The Untold Story of Adrian's Heart
by niicoleelee
Summary: Vampire Academy series from Adrian's perspective
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** This story is the Vampire Academy series from Adrian's perspective. It will closely follow the book but there will obviously be added scenes. This chapter is really close to the book. I thought it was important to keep how Adrian and Rose met as close to the book as possible.

* * *

Adrian Ivashkov leaned against the wall taking in the cold, winter scenery as he took a long drag from his cigarette. He was alone and peaceful as he allowed the drugs to calm his system. He had felt a bit funny lately and the cure was booze or cigarettes. He exhaled watching the shapes the smoke made. He saw it in perfect clarity. In fact, he saw everything with clarity. All thanks to his Moroi senses.

He heard footsteps coming in the distance. As it came into view he realised it was only a girl, a dhampir. She was worried about something. He could tell from how she was stomping the snow off her boots onto the porch as she made her way to the door next to him.

"Hey, little dhampir" Adrian said curiously. She stopped startled. Adrian took one last drag before dropping the cigarette onto the floor and stomping it out. She crossed her arms and looked at him. She was curious as well. _That's how they all start out_.

"Yeah?" she asked. Adrian's eyes swept over her body. She was obviously beautiful besides the fact that she was completely covered up in winter clothes and she had bruising around her eye. She watched him as he watched her. She was obviously use to this type of attention.

Adrian shrugged. "Just saying hi, that's all." She obviously wanted more out of him but instead he stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. Realising she wasn't going to get anymore out of him she shrugged and took a couple of steps towards the door. "You smell good, you know," he suddenly said. She stopped completely puzzled, which caused Adrian to grin.

"I ...um, what?"

"You smell good," he repeated.

"Are you joking? I've been sweating all day. I'm disgusting." She obviously needed to be somewhere but the look in her eye said that she wanted to stay with him.

"Sweat isn't a bad thing," he said, leaning against the wall and looking upward thoughtfully. "Some of the best things in life happen while sweating. Yeah, if you get too much of it and it gets old and stale, it turns pretty gross. But on a beautiful woman? Intoxicating. If you could smell things like a vampire does, you'd know what I'm talking about. Most people mess it all up and drown themselves in perfume. Perfume can be good ... especially if you get one that goes with your chemistry. But you only need a hint. Mix about 20 percent of that with 80 percent of your own perspiration...mmm." he tilted his head to the side and looked at her. "Dead sexy."

The look in her eye told him she agreed with him but wouldn't admit it. There was even a sparkle in her eye and Adrian was curious about who was the lucky guy that she was thinking about. "Well thanks for the hygiene lesson," she said. "But I don't own any perfume, and I'm going to go shower all this hot sweaty action off me. Sorry."

Adrian pulled out the pack of cigarettes and offered it to her. She frowned when she smelt the booze and cigarettes on him. She shook her head at the cigarettes, and he tapped one out for himself. "Bad habit," she said, watching him light it.

"One of many," he replied. He inhaled deeply. "You here with St. Vlad's?" St Vladmir's Academy was a school for young Moroi and Dhampirs.

"Yup."

"So you're going to be a guardian when you grow up?"

"Obviously." _She wouldn't be bad to be my guardian, and cater to my other needs_. He thought this as he exhaled smoke. She watched it drift away into the night.

"How long until you grow up?" he asked. "I might need a guardian."

"I graduate in the spring. But I'm already spoken for. Sorry." She seemed a little smug about this detail and Adrian wondered who the guy was. It was also surprising that she already was assigned to someone since most dhampirs were only assigned after their graduation.

Surprise flickered in his eyes. "Yeah? Who is he?"

"_She's_ Vasilisa Dragomir."

He recognised the name instantly. "Ah." His face split into a huge grin. "I knew you were trouble as soon as I saw you. You're Janine Hathaway's daughter."

"I'm Rose Hathaway," she corrected. She, like himself, didn't like to be defined by her family name.

"Nice to meet you, Rose Hathaway." He extended a gloved hand to her that she hesitantly took. "Adrian Ivashkov."

She also recognised the name instantly. "And you think _I'm_ trouble," he heard her mutter. He could see she was judging him but he didn't care.

He laughed. "Handy, huh? Each of our reputations precedes us."

She shook her head. "You don't know anything about me. And I only know about your family. I don't know anything about you."

"Want to?" he asked tauntingly.

"Sorry. I'm not into older guys." _Playing hard to get._

"I'm twenty-one. Not that much older."

"I have a boyfriend."

"Funny you didn't mention that right away," Adrian mused. "He didn't give you that black eye, did he?"

He watched her blush and saw that she was annoyed that he pointed her black eye out. "He wouldn't be alive if he did. I got it during...practise. I mean, I'm training to be a guardian. Our classes are always rough."

Sexual fantasies erupted in his brain the moment she said it. "That's pretty hot," he said. He dropped this second cigarette to the ground and put it out with his foot.

"Punching me in the eye?"

"Well, no. Of course not. I meant that the idea of getting rough with you is hot. I'm a big fan of full-contact sports."

"I'm sure you are," she said dryly. She was getting annoyed yet she still didn't make an effort to leave.

The sound of footsteps behind her made her turn. A small Moroi with blond curls came around the path and walked up the steps. When she saw them she stopped suddenly.

"Hey, Mia." She was saying it out of politeness but there was a certain edge to her voice that showed they have history.

Mia glanced between Adrian and Rose.

"_Another_ guy?" she asked.

Adrian gave Rose a questioning, amused look. She gritted her teeth. _Yep, they have history, this should be interesting_.

"Mia, this is Adrian Ivashkov."

He shook her hand. "Always a pleasure to meet a friend of Rose's, especially a pretty one." Honestly, he was not interested in her at all. She looked like a child and he preferred brunettes.

"We aren't friends," Rose said.

"Rose only hangs out with guys and psychopaths," said Mia. She was clearly interested in him and was extremely competitive with Rose.

"Well," he said cheerfully, "since I'm both a psychopath and a guy, that would explain why we're such good friends."

"You and I aren't friends either," she said.

He laughed. "Always playing hard to get, huh?"

"She's not that hard to get," said Mia, clearly upset that Adrian was paying more attention to Rose. "Just ask half the guys in our school."

"Yeah," she retorted, "and you can ask the other half about Mia. If you can do a favour for her, she'll do _lots_ of favours for you."

A flicker of embarrassment passed over her face, but she held her ground.

"Well," she said, "at least I don't do them for free."

Adrian made some cat noises.

"Are you done?" Rose asked. "It's past your bedtime, and the grown-ups would like to talk now." Her youthful looks were obviously a sour spot for her which Rose got satisfaction for exploiting.

"Sure," she said crisply. Her cheeks turned pink. "I have better things to do anyway." She turned toward the door, then paused with her hand resting on it. She glanced toward Adrian. "Her mom gave her that black eye, you know." She went inside. The glass doors swung shut behind her.

Adrian and Rose stood there in silence. Finally, he took out the cigarettes again and lit another: "Your mom?"

"Shut up."

"You're one of those people who either has soul mates or mortal enemies, aren't you? No in-between. You and Vasilisa are probably like sisters, huh?"

"I guess"

"How is she?" Adrian honestly wanted to know about Vasilisa, there were rumours about her including some about magic that couldn't be explained. Maybe, if they were true, it could explain some things about himself.

The question confused her. "Huh? What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I know you guys ran away...and there was that stuff with her family and Victor Daskov..."

She stiffened at the reference to Victor Dashkov. "So?"

"Dunno. Just figured it might be a lot for her to, you know, handle."

She studied him carefully. "I've got to go." She decided.

"Are you sure?" Adrian sounded only mildly disappointed. Mostly he seemed as cocky and amused as before. "I thought it was time for the grown-ups to talk. Lots of grown-up things I'd like to talk about."

"It's late, I'm tired, and your cigarettes are giving me a headache," she growled.

"I suppose that's fair." He drew in on the cigarette and let out the smoke. "Some women think they make me look sexy."

"I think you smoke them so you have something to do while thinking up your next witty line."

He choked on the smoke, caught between inhaling and laughing. "Rose Hathaway, I can't wait to see you again. If you're this charming while tired and annoyed and this gorgeous while bruised and in ski clothes, you must be devastating at your peak."

"If by 'devastating' you mean that you should fear for your life, then yeah. You're right." She jerked open the door. "Good night, Adrian."

"I'll see you soon." As he said it he promised it to himself as well, he had to know her.

"Not likely. I told you, I'm not into older guys."

She walked into the lodge. As the door closed, he called behind her, "Sure, you aren't."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** See, I told you there would be scenes not in the book. Anyway, it was fun creating a sort of 'Day in the Life of Adrian Ivashkov' thing. This chapter is shorter than the last one but i am planning on the next chapter being really long so dont get annoyed. Well enough of my random rambling. Enjoy

* * *

Adrian lay in bed looking up at the ceiling. On the bedside table next to him were empty bottles of alcohol and packets of cigarettes. The dark curtains blocked the sunlight that was trying to shine through. There was a small gap in the curtains and sunlight streaked part of Adrian's face. Finally noticing the light, Adrian got off the bed and walked towards the curtains to close them. The sunlight shined into his eyes, hurting him. The sunlight didn't kill Moroi, but it annoyed the crap out of them. But, Adrian didn't notice the sunlight. All he could think about was the dhampir he met only a few hours ago; Rose Hathaway. She was different from all the other girls before her. Adrian didn't know how she was but he just knew she was. He knew one thing was for certain, he had to know her.

****

Adrian woke up after only a few hours sleep. His dreams were a blur of images of Rose. Adrian frowned. _Why am I so whipped over this girl? I barely know her._ Adrian promised himself from that point no more thinking about Rose Hathaway. He got out of bed, changed into some clothes and called for room service. He ordered his breakfast and waited patiently.

There was a knock on the door and Adrian opened and let in a tall blonde woman. She was pretty and human. She held a tray with Adrian's breakfast and placed it on the coffee table. She walked towards the couch and sat down. He walked towards her and sat beside her. She tilted her head to the side letting her hair fall against her back revealing her neck. There were bruises on it and healing puncture wounds. Adrian leaned forward, opening his mouth to reveal his fangs, and bit down on the girl's neck. She gasped with the initial pain then relaxed as Adrian drank.

When it was over, the girl got up off the couch and stood up wobbling a bit. Adrian noticed the colours that surrounded her. There was yellow with a hint of pink*. She was happy. She walked out of the room after she regained her balance. Adrian no longer interested in the array of food on the coffee table went over to his fridge and grabbed a bottle of scotch and a glass. He sat down on the couch, poured himself a drink and began not thinking about Rose Hathaway.

A couple of hours later Adrian got bored and decided to walk around the lodge. Unfortunately smoking was not allowed inside so he had to save it for later. He went to one of the many bars in the lodge. He ordered a drink and chose the seat closest to the window. When he looked outside he was annoyed to see Rose. She was walking with a guy that had a slight limp in his walk. They were talking and she was smiling and happy. _He's obviously the boyfriend._ She suddenly turned and looked straight at the window Adrian was looking out of. He thought for a second that Rose had noticed him staring at her. Then a dhampir that was crouched down in front on the window launched a snowball straight into the guy's face. Adrian grinned as the snow fight broke out. _See, she is just a child._ The dhampirs went into a full on snow fight which Adrian quickly lost interest in. He reached into his pocket for a packet of cigarettes and walked out the bar and headed towards the back porch.

When Adrian approached the door to the back porch, he heard voices on the other side. Curious as always, he looked through the window. Guardian Belikov and Moroi Tasha Ozera were chatting like old friends, though the way Tasha Ozera was looking at him she didn't want them to be just friends.

Annoyed by the loss of a smoking area, Adrian kept walking to find another exit. He smiled when he found a door which he was certain lead outside. Once outside he grabbed his cigarettes out of his pocket. He was lighting it when he heard voices not so far away. He started to ignore it until he heard his name mentioned. He listened in on the people's conversation.

"It's okay. I know Mia can tell some convincing stories." He knew that voice. It was _her_. He also recognised the name Mia who was the little blonde Moroi.

"Yeah...but even if you were with him...it's not like I have any right..." It was a boy speaking and Adrian assumed it was the "boyfriend".

There was a pause until finally she asked "Don't you?"

"Do I?"

There was a really long pause after that which Adrian assumed was filled with them hooking up. His assumption was confirmed when the guy spoke again. "Wow"

"You see?" she said. "Nothing to worry about. Not Adrian, not anybody." Adrian took one last drag before dropping the cigarette to the ground and putting it out. He walked back to his room more determined than ever to have Rose Hathaway.

****

Just before Adrian went to sleep, he focused his entire mind on Rose Hathaway. He made sure he was sober before he did this otherwise it wouldn't work. It also wouldn't work if she wasn't asleep. After a couple of minutes, Adrian's room went out of focus and instead he was back on the porch where he met her. The difference was it was summer now. The air was balmy and warm, and the sun hung bright in the sky, coating everything in golden light.

Adrian leaned against the porch's railing, glanced over at the door and did a double-take when he saw Rose. "Oh. Didn't expect to see you here." He smiled. "I was right. You _are_ devastating when you're cleaned up."

Instinctively, she touched the skin around her eye.

"It's gone," he said.

She looked at him. "You aren't smoking."

"Bad habit," he said. He nodded toward her. "You scared? You're wearing a lot of protection."

She frowned, then looked down. She hadn't noticed her clothing. Adrian had little influence over what she was wearing. It was just an outfit from her subconscious mind. She wore a pair of embroidered jeans with a cropped t-shirt which showed off a belly ring with a nazar hanging on the end, which is meant to bring protection. She wore the Dragomir chotki around her wrist.

She looked back up at Adrian, studying him until something occurred to her.

"Doesn't all this sun bother you?"

He gave a lazy shrug. "Nah. It's my dream."

"No, it's _my_ dream."

"Are you sure?" His smile returned.

She looked confused. "I...I don't know."

He chuckled, but a moment later he noticed something really strange about her. Since he was sober he could see all the colours that surrounded her and was shocked. "Why do you have so much darkness around you?"

She frowned. "What?"

"You're surrounded in blackness." His eyes studied the black shadows surrounding her aura. "I've never seen anyone like you. Shadows everywhere. I never would have guessed it. Even while you're standing here, the shadows keep growing."

She looked down at her hands expecting to see the shadows only Adrian could see. She glanced back up. "I'm shadow-kissed...."

Adrian had never heard of it. "What's that mean?"

"I died once...and I came back."

Wonder lit up his face."Ah, interesting –"

Rose vanished. Adrian frowned at the place she was standing. _She must have woken up._ With a shrug Adrian left the porch and allowed himself to fall to sleep.

*By the way I just assumed that yellow meant happy and pink meant lust. That's not the official colours but I thought they were close enough.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** wow can't believe all the feedback I am getting for this series. First I was shocked people were actually bothering to read it and now people are actually bothering to tell me that they like it. I am touched (in a non sexual way ;)). Well like I said this chapter is really long. I mean I was expecting it to not take so long but I was up at like quarter past 10 last night typing away like a maniac. Well enjoy :D

* * *

Adrian was sipping from a bottle of vodka with a lighted cigarette in hand when there was a knock on the door. Adrian frowned, annoyed at the interruption. He put the bottle down and put out the cigarette in the ashtray on the coffee table. He got up, stretched and made his way to the door. When he opened it, Reese Conta was waiting on the other side.

"About time dude," he said to Adrian and let himself into his room and sat down on the couch. He picked up the bottle that Adrian was drinking from and took a sip. Adrian rolled his eyes and shut the door. He walked over and sat on the couch opposite Reese.

"There better be a good reason for you to come because it is really early and I"- he snatched the bottle off him –"was enjoying myself." He took a sip then waited for Reese to continue.

Reese ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "There was another Strigoi attack. This time on the Drozdovs..." Adrian stared at the label on the bottle, slightly bored. Sure Strigoi attacks were bad but he didn't worry over it. He was an Ivashkov. His family wasn't under threat and wouldn't be anytime soon. "Adrian? Hello?"

Adrian was pulled out of his thoughts. "What?"

"I said what do you think about it?"

Adrian thought for a moment before saying "I think we should throw a party."

Reese frowned at him. "And I think you should lay off the vodka for a while."

Adrian raised his eyebrows as he took another long sip. A grin was forming on his face. "I'm serious. A party is exactly what this place needs to cheer the Moroi up."

Reese raised one eyebrow "Since when have you needed an excuse to throw a party?"

Adrian pretended to look thoughtful. "That would be...never" he said with a grin.

"Exactly. What did you have in mind anyway?"

Adrian thought for a couple of seconds before answering "There is a swimming pool and spa a couple of floors below us."

"Let me guess, you want me to gather the young royals and any hot Moroi girls and load the place with booze." Reese rolled his eyes.

"You're the man," Adrian said holding his bottle up to toast him before taking another sip.

"Fine. But we have to wait till after the meeting." Adrian was bored again but pretended to look interested.

"What meeting?" Adrian asked. He already knew the answer but he might as well ask anyway.

"You know, how the older Moroi gather and discuss what to do about the attacks." _Blah, blah, blah._

"Well that is great and all but" Adrian stood up and opened the door for him "you have a party to plan."

"Whatever dude, later." Reese walked out the door and shut it behind him. Adrian sat back down on the couch. He had a lot to think about. He had two options. One, use this party as an excuse to get rid of the dhampir Rose Hathaway from his head. Two, use this party as an excuse to get to Rose Hathaway. There was another factor; Vasilisa Dragomir. She was the key to figuring out what was wrong with him and he could get to her through Rose. Not that he was using her because he was very, very interested in her but he had to know the truth about himself.

Adrian finished the bottle making up his mind. _Option two it is._

****

Adrian walked towards the banquet hall inside the lodge. The meeting was being held in there. As he walked he heard voices up ahead. He looked around the corner and saw Rose Hathaway with Guardian Belikov.

Adrian had decided to sober up earlier so he saw their auras and didn't like what he saw. Rose was still completely surrounded by shadows but inside those shadows there were different colours showing different emotions; jealousy, lust, anger, grief; _and love. Well it is not quite love but very close. Isn't he a teacher at her school? So much for not being interested in older guys. _Strangely enough Adrian started personally feeling these emotions, all but love. _Must be a side effect._

Belikov's aura was almost the same. There were colours of love, lust, anger, grief and sadness. The only difference was there were no shadows surrounding him. He would have enjoyed this bit of gossip if he wasn't so consumed by their emotions.

Belikov gave Rose a level look. "What happens between her and me is none of your business," he replied crisply.

As he said those words, the colours around Rose showed feelings of hurt. "Well. I'm sure you guys'll be happy together. She's just your type, too-I know how much you like women who aren't your own age. I mean, she's what, six years older than you? Seven? And I'm seven years younger than you."

Anger coloured his aura. "Yes," he said after several moments of silence. "You are. And every second this conversation goes on, you only prove how young you really are."

Rose was so hurt by those words. She didn't even try to hide it from her face. He suddenly was coloured with regret but his expression didn't show it.

Adrian took this as his queue to enter. "Little dhampir," he said.

Still stunned with the shock of Belikov's words she turned to Adrian. He grinned at her and gave a brief nod of acknowledgment to Belikov. Rose's face turned a slight shade of red and embarrassment flickered across her aura.

Adrian held up his hands in a casual gesture. "I don't want to interrupt or anything. Just wanted to talk to you when you have time." Belikov was staring at Adrian; there was a new colour that Adrian guessed was disapproval. Rose noticed his disapproval as well and turned to Adrian with a smile on her face. She walked over to him and put a hand on his arm. _God damnit, why does she have to look that good? It's all for him anyway._

"I've got time now." She gave a nod to Belikov and steered Adrian away, walking close to him. "See you later, Guardian Belikov." They walked away from him and satisfaction was the new emotion showing in her aura.

"Not into older guys, huh?" asked Adrian once they were alone.

"You're imagining things," she said. "Clearly, my stunning beauty has clouded your mind." _She's half right._

He laughed. "That's entirely possible."

She started to step back, but he tossed an arm around her. "No, no, you wanted to play chummy with me-now you've got to see it through."

She rolled her eyes at him and let the arm stay. "What do you want?" she asked.

He studied her for a moment than answered. "I want you to grab Vasilisa and come with me. We're going to have some fun. You'll probably want a swimsuit too." He seemed disappointed by this because he had a much better idea. "Unless you want to go naked."

"What? A bunch of Moroi and dhampirs just got slaughtered, and you want to go swimming and 'have fun'?"

"It's not just swimming," he said patiently. "Besides, that slaughter is exactly why you should go do this."

She was going to argue back when a group of people came round the corner. They were deep in conversation, though they all stopped talking when they saw Rose and Adrian. There were five of them and Adrian only knew three of them. One was the boy dhampir that was Rose's "boyfriend", the second was the short blonde Moroi named Mia from the other night, and the other one was Vasilisa Dragomir. Adrian recognised her instantly and was pleased to see her aura. It was a bright golden light that completely surrounded her.

"There you are," said Vasilisa, a puzzled look on her face.

Rose stepped out of Adrian's arm. "Hey guys," she said. There was a moment of awkwardness and Adrian chuckled. She beamed at him then at her friends. "Adrian invited us to go swimming."

They stared at her in surprise and the "boyfriend's" aura was consumed with jealousy and hurt. He didn't mind her inviting them to the party because it meant Vasilisa would be coming.

Adrian gave Rose directions then walked back to his room to get ready for the party.

****

Adrian entered the party to a chorus of friendly greetings. Reese waved at him from the bar and Adrian made his way over towards him. He grabbed a drink from the bar. "Nice party."

"It was short notice...but I pulled it off," he replied smugly.

Adrian rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink.

"I also got your other request," he pointed to a group of girls. "They are _very_ interested in meeting Adrian Ivashkov, emphasis on the 'very'."

"Well I am not one to disappoint. Plus it would be rude of me as the host of this party to not cater to all my guests needs."

Reese grinned then frowned. "Wait, aren't I the host?"

Adrian walked away, drink in hand. "Sure, sure."

The Moroi girls grinned as he approached them. "Hello ladies, it is a _pleasure_ to meet you."

Adrian tuned out as he always does when talking to most girls. He was thinking about if Rose would actually turn up and being able to chat to Vasilisa after all this time. Just as he was thinking this, Rose and Vasilisa entered the party. Rose was wearing a maroon bikini which made Adrian want to take it off. Rose and her friends got into one of the pools. Adrian focused back to his guests. He chatted to them for a while before excusing himself to get another drink. He made sure that he drank enough to enjoy himself but not enough to stop seeing the auras.

Adrian found Reese again exactly where he left him.

"Enjoying the party?" Reese asked.

"Are you?"

Reese grinned. "You know what I always say. It isn't a party until someone breaks into a fight."

Adrian was looking at a group of Moroi. Two guys had very angry auras. "Well you might be in luck," he nodded towards the group.

"Excellent. Well you keep an eye on the fight and give me any updates. I am feeling a bit hungry," he winked at Adrian. Adrian rolled his eyes as Reese made his way to the feeder room.

Adrian scanned the room and saw Rose walking around. From the looks of her she was very drunk. She was looking at her feet as she walked so she didn't notice when she walked straight into the fight. After one of the men punched the other, Rose instinctively jumped in the middle to try and maintain peace. From the pool, Rose's "boyfriend" got up and rushed to her rescue. Unfortunately for him she didn't want to be rescued. Together they stopped the fight. _Reese will be annoyed._ Rose turned towards her "boyfriend" and got angry at him.

After arguing, Rose stormed, or at least tried to, away from him. She turned and walked into the feeder room. Adrian, no longer wanting to be an observer, went after Rose. When he found her, Rose was watching Reese feed off a redheaded human. She watched them with fascination. Desire appeared in her aura. _She has been fed off before._

"Want to volunteer?"

Adrian brushed her neck with his fingertips, and she jumped. She turned around and saw Adrian with a smirk that hinted he knew more than he was showing.

"Don't do that," she told him, knocking his hand away.

"Then what are you doing in here?" he asked.

She gestured around her. "I'm lost."

Adrian looked at her. "Are you drunk?"

"_No_. Of course not...but..." she looked a bit nauseous. "I think I should sit down."

He took her arm. "Well, don't do it in here. Someone might get the wrong idea. Let's go somewhere quiet."

He steered her off into a different room, and she looked around with interest. It was a massage area. She sat down on the carpeted floor, leaning back against the wall. Adrian walked away and returned with a glass of water. Sitting down as well, he handed it to her.

"Drink this. It'll help." Adrian knew too well from experience what to do in these situations, even if they were years ago.

"I told you, I'm not drunk," she mumbled. But she drained the water anyway.

"Uh-huh." He smiled at her. "You did nice work with that fight. Who was the other guy that helped you?"

"My boyfriend," she said. "Sort of."

"Mia was right. You do have a lot of guys in your life."

"It's not like that."

"Okay." He was still smiling. "Where's Vasilisa? I figured she'd be attached to you."

"She's with _her_ boyfriend." She studied him.

"What's with the tone? Jealous? You want him for yourself?" Adrian knew this wasn't true because he couldn't see any jealousy of that kind but there was some jealousy in her aura but it wasn't directed at Vasilisa's boyfriend, at least he thinks it wasn't.

"God, no. I just don't like him."

"Does he treat her badly?" he asked.

"No," she admitted. "He adores her. He's just kind of a jerk."

Adrian was enjoying this. "Ah, you _are_ jealous. Does she spend more time with him than you?"

She ignored that. "Why do you keep asking about her? Are you interested in her?"

He laughed. "Rest easy, I'm not interested in her in the same way I am you."

"But you are interested."

"I just want to talk to her."

He left her to fetch some water. "Feeling better?" he asked, handing the glass to her.

"Yeah...I didn't think those drinks were that strong."

"That's the beauty of them," he chuckled. "And speaking of beauty...that's a great colour on you."

She shifted. Her aura showed slight signs of lust. She drank more water deep in thought. "You haven't had a cigarette in, like, ten minutes," she pointed out.

He made a face. "No smoking in here."

"I'm sure you've made up for it in punch."

His smile returned. "Well, _some_ of us can hold down our liquor. You aren't going to be sick, are you?"

"No"

"Good."

She was deep in thought and her aura showed traces of confusion.

After a moment she spoke. "Adrian..."

He looked at her. "Yes, darling?"

She frowned. "Never mind."

He started to retort, then tilted his head towards the door. "Ah, here she comes."

"Who-"

Vasilisa Dragomir stepped into the room, eyes scanning around. When she spotted Adrian and Rose relief coloured her aura. He was certain it was relief because it showed on her face. "There you are," she said, kneeling beside Rose. Glancing at Adrian, she gave him a nod."Hey."

"Hey yourself, cousin," he returned, using the family terms royals sometimes used around each other.

"You okay?" Vasilisa asked Rose. "When I saw how drunk you were, I thought you might have fallen in somewhere and drowned."

"I'm not-" she gave up trying to deny it. "I'm fine"

Adrian's expression turned serious as he studied Vasilisa. Her aura was still golden. "How'd you find her?"

Vasilisa gave him a puzzled look. "I, um, checked all the rooms."

"Oh." He looked disappointed. "I thought you might have used your bond."

They both stared at him.

"How do you know about that?" Rose demanded.

"Hey, I can't reveal all my secrets, can I?" he asked mysteriously. "And besides, there's a certain way you two act around each other...it's hard to explain. It's pretty cool...all the old myths are true."

Vasilisa regarded him warily. "The bond only works one way. Rose can sense what I'm feeling and thinking, but I can't do it back to her."

"Ah." They sat in silence a few moments, and Rose drank more water. Adrian spoke again. "What'd you specialize in anyway, cousin?"

She looked embarrassed. "I haven't," she said.

"Do they think you're going to? Late bloomer?"

"No."

"You're probably higher in the other elements, though, right? Just not strong enough to really master any?" He reached out to pat her shoulder in an exaggerated show of comfort.

"Yeah, how'd you-"

The instant his fingers touched her, she gasped. Adrian let his magic flow into her. She stared at him in wonder. His eyes were locked onto hers too. He had finally been able to talk to someone like him.

This bothered Rose. "Hey," she said. "Stop that. I told you, she has a boyfriend."

"I know," he said, still watching her. A small smile turned his lips. "We need to have a chat someday, cousin."

"Yes," she agreed.

"Hey," Rose said even more confused. "_You_ have a boyfriend. And there he is."

Vasilisa blinked, confused. All three of them turned toward the doorway. Rose's "boyfriend" was standing there along with who Adrian assumed was Vasilisa's boyfriend. Vasilisa sprang up, looking mildly guilty.

"We're getting ready to leave," said the boyfriend.

"Okay," she told him. She looked down at Rose. "Ready?"

Rose nodded and started to get up. Adrian caught her arm as she did and helped her up. He smiled at Vasilisa. "Nice talking to you." To Rose, he murmured very quietly, "Don't worry. I told you, I'm not interested in her in that way. She doesn't look as good in a bathing suit. Probably not as good out of one either."

She pulled her arm away. "Well, you'll never find out."

"It's okay," he said. "I have a very good imagination."

Adrian watched them leave. Reese walked towards him, confused. "Who were they? I don't remember inviting them."

"Don't worry, I did."

Reese frowned. "But why? They are just a bunch of young school kids and none of the chicks are hot, well except for the brunette...you're after the brunette, aren't you?"

"Don't worry I have a plan."

"And that plan involves?"

"Now Reese I can't give away all my secrets," said Adrian grinning. He walked away and went back to the group of girls that were talking to him earlier. He began tuning out again until he decided something. _There is still time for some of option one_. He turned to one of the blondes and whispered in their ear, "I think we could take this conversation to a more... private venue."

The blonde followed Adrian back to his room. He opened the door for her and as she walked through he smelt perfume on her neck. It reminded him of the conversation with Rose a couple of days ago.

"Do you mind if I make a phone call first?" Adrian asked the blonde. The blonde agreed and Adrian made the phone call. After he was done he walked back towards the blonde. "Now where were we?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** This chapter wasn't as long as I would have liked it to be but I guess it ended at the right part and I felt like I couldn't add anything. I might post again earlier but I am not sure cos Christmas is so close and I am going to be heaps busy. Plus my birthday is 4 days after so I will be even more busy. I will try to post as soon as I can. No promises though.

* * *

Adrian listened with his eyes shut as footsteps walked away from him and towards the door. He heard the door shut and he opened his eyes. He sat up in bed, vision blurry as he looked around his room. Everything looked the same until he noticed a bikini top on the couch. He heard a knock at the door. He grabbed the bikini top and walked to the door.

Opening the door he held out the bikini top. "Here you forgot your-

There was a blonde at his door but it wasn't the blonde Adrian slept with, it was Vasilisa Dragomir. He walked away from the open door and shoved the bikini top in a random drawer. He walked back towards her. "Sorry bout that. Come in."

Vasilisa entered the room, embarrassment colouring her aura. It was still golden but there were other colours; worry, curiosity, and some other emotions he couldn't make out. She sat down on the couch and Adrian sat on the one opposite her.

Adrian ran his fingers through his hair as he waited for her to say something. She stared off into space. She kept opening her mouth then closing it.

" How… how did you know about me?" she asked finally.

"What, about your abilities?"

"Yeah"

"I heard…stories about you and Victor Dashkov." Vasilisa flinched at the name. "I was curious since a lot of things that I heard about you were the same for me."

Vasilisa looked confused. "Like what?"

"Like I said last night, about how you haven't specialized in any of the four elements, the bond between you and Rose." He got up and walked towards the fridge and grabbed a bottle of whisky and a glass from the side cabinet. He paused and looked at Vasilisa. "Want anything?"

Vasilisa frowned in disapproval. "No thanks."

Adrian shrugged. "Suit yourself." He made his way back to the couch. He opened the bottle and poured himself a drink.

Vasilisa was staring at him. "Are you…?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you bonded with anyone?"

"Nah, not my style."

Vasilisa was about to ask him something else when Adrian heard footsteps heading towards his door. Not wanting to be interrupted Adrian got up and opened the door. He was surprised to see Rose on the other side. She was holding a large crate full of what Adrian could smell was perfume. _I must remind myself to tip the postal service._

"Little dhampir," he said cordially. "Didn't expect to see you here."

"I'm returning these." She hoisted the box towards him before he could protest. Clumsily, he caught it, staggering a bit in surprise. Once he had a good grip, he took a few steps back and set it on the floor.

"Didn't you like any of them?" he asked. "You want me to get you some more?"

"Don't send me any more gifts."

"It isn't a gift. It's a public service. What woman doesn't own perfume?"

"Don't do it again," she said firmly.

Vasilisa got up off the couch, "Rose? Is that you?"

She peered around Adrian to see Vasilisa. She was surprised.

"What are you doing here?"

_Maybe the bond didn't work on a hangover._

"What are _you_ doing here?" Vasilisa asked.

"Ladies, ladies," he said teasingly. "No need to fight over me."

Rose glared. "We're not. I just want to know what's going on here."

"Me too" Rose jumped and turned to see Gaurdian Belikov standing in the hallway.

He was shocked and disappointed to see Rose _and_ Vasilisa in Adrian's company. He stepped past Rose and came into the room, looking between the three of them.

"Male and female students aren't supposed to be in each other's rooms."

_Thank god I hid that bikini top and he obviously hasn't noticed the bottle of whisky. He'd probably have a heart attack seeing his 'lover' with me._

"How do you keep doing this?" Rose asked Adrian, frustrated.

"Do what?"

"Keep making us look bad!"

He chuckled. "You guys are the ones who came here."

"You shouldn't have let them in," scolded Belikov. "I'm sure you know the rules at St. Vladmir's."

Adrian shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't have to follow any school's stupid rules."

"Perhaps not," said Belikov coldly. "But I would have thought you'd still respect those rules."

Adrian rolled his eyes. "I'm kind of surprised to find _you_ lecturing about underage girls."

Adrian saw the anger in his aura. He was furious. His fists were clenched.

"Besides," continued Adrian, "nothing sordid was going on. We were just hanging out."

"If you want to 'hang out' with your girls, do it at one of the public areas."

Adrian laughed without humour. Rose looked at him, freaked out. "Young girls? _Young girls?_ Sure. Young and old at the same time. They've barely seen anything in life, yet they've seen too much. One's marked with life, and one's marked with death…but they're the ones you're worried about? Worry about yourself, dhampir. Worry about you, and worry about me. We're the ones who are young."

Everyone was staring at Adrian, completely confused. _These auras are starting to get to me._

Adrian was calm and looked perfectly normal again. He turned away and strolled towards the window, glancing casually back at them as he picked up his cigarettes.

"You ladies should probably go. He's right. I am a bad influence."

Adrian listened as they left the room and shut the door. He lit the cigarette, frowning. _What the hell was that? I need a drink._

He walked back to the couch and took a long drink from the glass of whisky. As he was thinking he looked over and noticed the box full of perfume. He walked over and awkwardly picked up the crate and carried it over to the couch. He counted the perfume bottles and noticed one was missing. He looked at the list. _Amor Amor. How fitting._

* * *

By the way if I don't post again before Christmas… Merry Christmas!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Apparently it was my public duty to update ;) I was meant to finish this yesterday but I suffered from writer's block :( Lucky it is over now and I can post this. Think of this chapter as my Christmas present to you :) Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

* * *

Adrian poured the last of the whisky into his glass when there was a knock on the door. Not in the mood for company he ignored it. He picked up his lit cigarette and took a drag from it. He exhaled as the knocking started again.

"Adrian! Let me in!" Adrian recognised the familiar voice of Reese Conta. Still ignoring the knocking Adrian took another drag. "I know you're in there!" Adrian grinned. _How?_ "I can smell fresh smoke from your cigarettes." Adrian frowned. _Damn it!_

Adrian got up off the couch and opened the door a fraction. Peering through the gap he saw Reese Conta. "What do you want?" said Adrian annoyed.

"Can't I spend quality time with my favourite pal?" Reese said.

Adrian paused then rolled his eyes and opened the door completely. He blocked the doorway with his arm. "But seriously, what do you want?"

Reese rolled his eyes. "Like I said, I want to spend some quality time with my favourite pal."

Adrian raised an eyebrow and walked away from the door. He sat down on the couch and picked up his cigarette and put it out. Reese shut the door and sat on the couch Vasilisa sat only a few hours ago. The memory of Vasilisa and Rose in his room caused grin to form on his face.

"What are you smiling about cousin? Well never mind that, how awesome was my party this morning," said Reese looking rather smug.

He rolled his eyes. "So, you came here to brag?"

"Why do you think I have a reason for visiting you?" Adrian raised his eyebrows. "Okay fine, I do have a reason."

"Here we go," he muttered.

"My dad is making me go to Priscilla's banquet and since it is going to be really boring. All the royals are going to be there." _All the royals are going to be there._ "Could you please come?"

With a sigh Adrian answered. "Fine, only because _I'm_ bored. Now could you get out so I can get ready?"

Reese got off the couch and walked towards the door. "Whatever dude, see you later."

When Adrian entered the banquet he instantly wished he hadn't come. He saw his father getting into an argument. There was a small crowd around him. He was surprised to see Rose and Vasilisa in that crowd. In fact Vasilisa was one of the people standing up to him. By the looks of it the majority were on Vasilisa's side.

A waitress walked by and offered Adrian a glass of champagne. He took the glass and had a sip. He scanned the crowd looking for Reese. He was no where to be seen. _He must have bailed, the bastard._

The crowd his father was now surrounding Vasilisa. He watched as Rose backed away into a corner by the door. _Maybe I can make this a little more interesting_. He put down the glass on a random table and made his way over to where Rose was standing. As he came closer he could smell perfume on her. It was a mixture of currant, lily and some other unidentifiable flora fragrances.

A waitress had approached her with a tray of food.

"Is that goose liver?" she asked.

The waitress shook her head. "Sweetbread."

Rose reached for it.

"It's pancreas," said Adrian. She jerked back.

"What?" she squeaked. The waitress took her shock for rejection and moved on.

Adrian moved into Rose's line of sight, looking immensely pleased with himself.

"Are you messing with me?" she asked. "'Sweatbread' is _pancreas_?"

Adrian shrugged. "It's really good."

She shook her head in disgust. "Oh, man. Rich people suck."

His amusement continued. "What are you doing here, little dhampir? Are you following me around?"

"Of course not," she scoffed. "Especially not after all the trouble you've gotten us into." A smile was forming on Adrian's face.

"I don't know," he teased. "As many times as we keep seeing each other? This is, what, the fifth time? It's starting to look suspicious. Don't worry, though. I won't tell your boyfriend. Either of them."

She opened her mouth to protest but closed it. If Adrian didn't know any better he'd say she was blushing. "I only have one boyfriend. Sort of. Maybe not anymore. And anyway, there's nothing to tell. I don't even like you."

"No?" asked Adrian, still smiling. He leaned toward her, like he had a secret to share. "Then why are you wearing my perfume?"

Her cheeks were turning red as she took a step back. "I'm not."

He laughed. "Of course you are. I counted the boxes after you left. Besides, I can smell it on you. It's nice. Sharp…but still sweet-just like I'm sure you are deep down inside. And you got it right, you know. Just enough to add an edge…but not enough to drown your own scent."

"Hey," she said, tossing her hair back. "I had every right to take one. You offered them. Your mistake is in assuming me taking one means anything. It doesn't. Except that maybe you should be more careful with where you dump all that money of yours."

"Ooh, Rose Hathaway is here to play, folks." He paused and took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. "You want one?"

"I don't drink."

"Right." Adrian handed her a glass anyway, then shooed away the waiter away and took a drink of the champagne. "So. Sounds like our Vasilisa put my dad in his place."

"Your…" she glanced back at the group she had just left. "That guy's your dad?"

"That's what my mom says."

"You agree with him? About how Moroi fighting would be suicide?"

Adrian shrugged and took another sip. "I don't really have an opinion on that."

"That's not possible. How can you not feel one way or another?"

"Dunno. Just not something I think about. I've got better things to do."

"Like stalk me," she suggested. "And Lissa."

He smiled again. "I told you, you're the one following me."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Five times-" she stopped. "Five times?"

He nodded.

"No, it's only been four." With her free hand, she ticked them off. "There was the first night, the night at the spa, then when I came to your room, and now tonight."

"If you say so."

"I _do_ say so…" Again, her words trailed off. "You can't mean…"

"Mean what?" A curious, eager expression lit his eyes. It was more hopeful than presumptuous.

She swallowed, obviously thinking about the dream they shared. "Nothing." She took a drink of champagne. After a moment, a smile started to form on her face.

"Why are you smiling?" Adrian asked.

"Because Lissa's still over there, working the crowd."

"No surprises there. She's one of those people who can charm anyone she wants if she tries hard enough. Even people who hate her."

She gave him a wry look. "I feel that way when I talk to you."

"But you don't hate me," he said, finishing the last of his champagne. "Not really."

"I don't like you either."

"So you keep saying." He took a step toward her, making the space between them more intimate. "But I can live with that."

"Rose!" Janie Hathaway stormed up towards them. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Nothing, I-"

"Excuse us, Lord Ivashkov," she growled. Then she grabbed Rose's arm and jerked her out of the room.

Once they were out the room, Adrian scanned the crowd again. He saw Guardian Belikov making his way through the crowd to the door Rose just exited through. More annoyed than he should be, Adrian walked around hoping to find another waiter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** ok I was meant to update earlier but I have been heaps busy. I turned 16 and I got my licence :D plus there was New Years Eve etc. well to make it up to you I am going to post the next chapter with in 48 hours. I know double the fun. I decided to write out a plot outline before I started this chapter so I don't stuff it up and I ended up writing enough for two chapters :)

In other news I am planning on writing some different fanfics, possibly some Alice and Gossip Girl and possible some more Vampire Academy. A lot of ideas are popping into my head at the moment which is annoying cos then it's harder to focus on this one but also very interesting. Lol no I didn't intend that to be a hint or anything.

Well enough of my rambling. If you wanted to read me rambling you would have added me on livejournal. Omg I think I just hinted again! I must stop this before I get 50 mental slaps. Well enjoy the story that is the reason you opened this in the first place.

* * *

Adrian watched the crowd at Priscilla's banquet. He sat at a table with a glass of champagne in hand. He stared at the gold liquid as he thought about what had happened only an hour ago. He thought about Rose and how sexy she had looked in that dress. He frowned; annoyed at himself for how he was drawn towards Rose just like she was drawn to him. Though she was just a dhampir, and he was a Moroi with a weird charismatic ability that made people drawn to him. But he didn't think about that much, no matter how annoyed his was he thoughts still centred around Rose who right now was probably screwing that Guardian Belikov.

Adrian took a sip of the champagne then watched as it swirled around in the glass. The colour reminded him of the aura that surrounded him, and Vasilisa. _Vasilisa_. He scanned the crowd looking for her. He hoped she was still here. He didn't get the chance to talk to her properly earlier. He spotted her talking to a Moroi royal couple. He got up and made his way towards her.

"Hello," Adrian shook the couples hands "Adrian Ivashkov. May I borrow Vasilisa for one moment?" he steered Vasilisa away from them and into a corner of the banquet hall. "Hello cousin."

"What are you doing?" Vasilisa asked as she looked behind him at the crowd.

"What, can't I talk to you in a public place?"

She frowned then looked at Adrian. "Look I'm sorry, but have you seen Rose anywhere?"

"Well I don't think they grow roses in winter but they are-

"Adrian I'm serious, have you seen Rose?"*

"Yeah, yeah. I last saw her an hour ago when I was with her. Her mother dragged her out the party because she was talking to me," he answered as he took a sip of his champagne.

A confused expression showed on her face. "What?"

"Yeah so maybe talking to me was a bad idea," he said

"Well why did you want to talk to me?" her expression now changed to curiosity.

"I wanted to continue the conversation we had this morning."

"Well um, is now really a good time?"

"What, you want to have it later when we are not in public?"

"Umm, yeah, because my boyfriend is already annoyed at me for this morning," Adrian rolled his eyes. "Plus I have kept my powers hidden for so long that I don't feel comfortable talking about it like this."

"Fine but we should talk soon."

"Yeah of course but not tonight."

Adrian hid his disappointment. "Yeah sure, we will meet back here tomorrow night. That sound good?"

"Sure," Vasilisa nodded then turned around and walked away.

Adrian was tired of this banquet so he dumped his glass on a random table and made his way back to his room where he slept the rest of the day.

****

Adrian woke up in the middle of the night. He looked around at his room. Suddenly feeling sick of the room, he got dressed and left it. He made his way to the bar. Alcohol always made him happy and definitely had a reason to drink. He sat down on a barstool and was about to order a glass of vodka when he thought better of it. Like he needed a reminder of Russians.

He was about to order again when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and was surprised to see Guardian Belikov approaching him. He stopped right in front of him, his face expressionless.

Adrian was about to come up with a witty remark when he saw his aura. His face may not have showed it but he was extremely worried and freaking out about something. That something could only be one thing; Rose.

"What happened?" asked Adrian truly concerned.

Belikov looked confused. Then composed his face. "Have you seen Rose?"

Adrian frowned, "Rose is missing?"

He started to back away. "I guess I've wasted my time talking to you."

Adrian got off the stool and walked to Belikov. "What happened?"

"That is none of your concern, Lord Ivashkov," he said Adrian's name with a bit of venom.

Pissed off Adrian replied, "Yeah but I bet you must be _really_ concerned."

Belikov looked at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I know _all_ about how you feel about Rose." He walked even closer to Belikov. "If people paid even just a little bit of attention they would immediately realise as well but no, you are the "bad-ass" guardian who is _so_ dedicated to his job and everyone thinks the best of you-"

"Enough. I have no idea what you are talking about but now isn't the time. Rose went to Spokane along with four of her friends, which was where Strigori were sited and we have no idea where they are. Now if you would excuse me I have to go find them."

Guardian Belikov walked away and left Adrian stunned. _It must be really bad if he is that upset._ Adrian stood there until he realised something. Maybe he could help. Adrian walked back to his room more determined than ever.

****

He lay down on his bed and focused his mind completely on Rose. It wouldn't work if she wasn't asleep but he had to try. After a few minutes his mind was sent to a beach. He saw her standing there. He walked up to her.

"Little dhampir," he said. "It's about time."

She turned around, surprised to see him.

"Still got your protection," he added. She was wearing a nazar and her chotki again.

"And you're in the sun again," Rose said. "So I suppose it's your dream."

"It's our dream."

She wriggled her toes in the sand. "How can two people share a dream?"

"People share dreams all the time, Rose."

She looked up at him with a frown. "I need to know what you mean. About there being darkness around me. What does it mean?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Everyone has light around them, except for you. You have shadows. You take them from Lissa."

Her confusion grew. "I don't understand."

"I can't get into it right now," he told me. "That's not why I'm here."

"You're here for a reason?" she asked. "You aren't just…here to be here?"

He stepped forward and caught her hand, forcing her to look up at him. All amusement was gone. He was dead serious. "Where are you?"

Around them, the beach suddenly blurred, like a film going out of focus. She was thinking hard.

"In a basement…" she said slowly. "Oh God, Adrian. You've got to help Mia and Christian. I can't-"

Adrian's grip on her hand tightened. "Where?" The world shimmered again, and this time it didn't refocus. He swore. "Where are you, Rose?"

The world began to disintegrate.

"A basement. In a house. In-"

Adrian lost her completely. He opened his eyes to reality and swore again. He charged out the door looking for Vasilisa.

*OMG I had the BEST CALL EVER for this but it was too mean and too un-Adrian-like so I didn't put it in. Since I am nice (if I can still be nice for thinking this) I will put it here:

"Oh you mean Rose Hathaway the girl that was led out of the room by her mother for talking to me? Lucky for you your mother is dead so we probably won't be interrupted."

Seriously I was like OH SNAP!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** as promised I have updated this story again. I know, I have skills :D Omg did anyone else chat to Richelle Mead the other day! It was heaps cool but none of my questions got through. She said one thing that made me really happy: THERE IS GOING TO BE HEAPS OF ADRIAN IN SPIRIT BOUND!!!!! That is bloody awesome :) Spirit Bound comes out May 18th and the 6th book comes out at the end of the year :D

Wow I have nearly finished writing Adrian's perspective in Frostbite. Don't worry peoples, I still have another four books to fanfic on. But I have the feeling I am going to have gaps between when Spirit Bound comes out and the 6th one comes out where I will have nothing to write about so I am planning other fanfics. I think I already mentioned this in the last chapter but oh well. I am very tempted to tell you guys what my next vampire academy fanfic will be about but I want it to be a surprise. Either way you guys will find out soon-ish

* * *

Adrian was walking down a hallway, looking for Vasilisa. He had to tell her about Rose. The problem was he had no idea where her room was. He turned right into an identical hallway and saw a group of girls that looked around Lissa's age. He decided to follow them. They were completely oblivious as they continued down the hall.

They led him into the lodge entrance. Cursing, he turned around and made his way back to the hallway.

"Hey Adrian! Wait up!" said a voice behind him and he turned around to see Reese walking towards him. Adrian swore again. This was not what he needed right now. Reese frowned when he got to him. "Wow, you look like you need a drink. Which is where I come in. Look I'm sorry I bailed on you this morning but I got caught up at an awesome party. Speaking of parties there is one just for you in my suite."

"As tempting as it is Reese now is not the time, I really need to be somewhere," said Adrian.

"Look let me make it up to you. Just come to this party. If you need to be somewhere you can go, just give me half an hour of your time."

"I'm sorry Reese but I don't feel that way about you," he said with a smirk.

"That's my boy, come on," said Reese rolling his eyes as he led him to his room. _Thirty minutes won't kill me, or Rose._

****

Reese's suite was full of people who had already began to party. Reese straight away led him over to the bar and ordered some drinks. He handed one to Adrian and took a large drink from his. Adrian stared down at his drink thinking that maybe alcohol was a bad idea. He wanted to stay sober for his meeting with Lissa later in the morning.

He looked around the crowd spotting some familiar faces.

"Good party, huh?" said Reese who was watching the crowd as well.

"Sure, sure," he replied wanting to leave.

"Aw come on. Let's go say hi to our friends."

Adrian had no idea who he meant were our _friends_ but he went along with it. They made a circuit around that party and eventually made their way back to the bar. Reese didn't even notice that Adrian hadn't touched his drink.

"Do you mind if I leave you for a bit?" Reese asked.

"Why would I mind?"

"True. I'll be back."

Adrian stayed there not in the mood to socialise.

"Hello there," said a voice behind him. He turned to see a brunette he had never met in his life. "You're Adrian Ivashkov?" she asked.

"Yes I am," he replied with a grin on his face.

She returned the grin. "I have heard _all_ about you."

She was pretty, but the thing that put him off was her perfume. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had filled up a bathtub with perfume and dunked herself in it. He was trying to figure what the scent was. He frowned. _Roses._

"Excuse me I have to go," he said while she was in mid sentence. He didn't even wait for a reply, instead he made his way to the door.

****

Adrian left the party and made his way to the banquet room where he was meant to meet Lissa. For once in his life he wasn't going to be late for something. He was almost there when Guardian Belikov came out of a room. He turned and saw Adrian who had come to a stop. _Should I tell him? Maybe it could help Rose? He won't believe me, I'm Adrian Ivashkov for crying out loud, no one has ever taken me seriously._

Belikov turned around and started to walk away. "Guardian Belikov!" he stopped and turned around, his aura showed signs of annoyance and even a bit of anger. Adrian moved towards him.

"What is it?" he asked trying to be polite.

"I…I have some information about Rose," Adrian replied. The mention of Rose changed his aura to show feelings of worry and sadness.

Belikov frowned. "How would you know when her best friend doesn't even-"

"That's not what's important right now." Adrian hesitated, unsure what to say. _Rose could be being tortured right now! Just say it!_ "She is in a basement, in a house…but she didn't say where though."

Guardian Belikov glared at Adrian. "This is a very serious matter. I don't have time for jokes."

"Fine, don't believe me but I will tell you anyway. She said something about helping…Mia and…Christian I think it was. She sounded pretty desperate so I guess it would have to be strigori. I couldn't keep a hold of it long enough to get any other information out of her." Adrian walked past Belikov. "Hope that helps," he said as he continued down the hallway.

Suddenly Belikov grabbed his shoulder forcing Adrian to face him. "How do you know all this?"

Adrian shrugged off the hand on his shoulder. "I talked to Rose."

"How?" his tone was starting to sound desperate.

"Again with the '_how's_. Look _how_ is not important. Just go find your girlfriend before she get's eaten." Adrian turned and walked away. He was late for his meeting with Lissa now.

****

Adrian walked into on of the lodge's banquet rooms. He thought for a moment that it was empty until he spotted Lissa sitting on the floor on the far side, trying to stay inconspicuous. "Cousin," he said, greeting her. He sat down beside her and drew his knees up. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay," she said.

"You didn't know I was here until you saw me, did you?"

She shook her head, disappointed.

"And sitting with me…you can't really notice anything?"

"No."

He shrugged. "Well. Hopefully it'll come soon."

"How does it look for you?" she asked, curious.

"Do you know what auras are?"

"They're like…bands of light around people, right? Some New Age thing?"

"Something like that. Everyone has a sort of spiritual energy that radiates out from them. Well, almost everyone." He thought of the shadows that surrounded Rose. "Based on the colour and appearance, you can tell a lot about a person…well, if anyone could actually _see_ auras, that is."

"And you can," she said. "And you can tell I use spirit from my aura?" _Spirit?_

"Yours is mostly gold. Like mine. It'll shift with other colours depending on the situation, but the gold always stays."

"How many other people out there like us do you know?"

"Not many. I just see them every once in a while. They kind of keep to themselves. You're the first I've actually ever talked to. I didn't even know it was called 'spirit'. Wish I'd known about this when I didn't specialise. I just figured I was some kind of freak."

In the corner of his eye he could see Lissa staring at her arm as if she was willing herself to see the gold that Adrian saw clearly.

"So, they finally let you go?" Adrian asked her.

"Yeah. They finally decided I really didn't know anything."

"Good," he said. He frowned, "And you're _sure_ you don't?"

"I already told you that. I can't make the bond work that way."

"Hmm. Well. You've got to."

She glared. "What, you think I'm holding back? If I could find her, I would!"

"I know, but to have it at all, you must have a strong connection. Use that to talk to her in her dreams. I tried, but I can't hang on long enough to-"

"What did you say?" exclaimed Lissa. "Talk to her in her _dreams_?"

He looked at her, puzzled. "Sure. Don't you know how to do that?"

"No! Are you kidding? How is that even possible?"

He ran a hand through his hair and tipped his head back, staring at the crystal chandelier above as he pondered. "Okay. So. You don't see auras, and you don't talk to people in dreams. What _do_ you do?"

"I…I can heal people. Animals. Plants, too. I can bring dead things back to life."

"Really?" he said, impressed. "Okay. You get credit for that. What else?"

"Um, I can use compulsion."

"We can all do that."

"No, I can _really_ do it. It's not hard. I can make people do anything I want-even bad things."

"So can I." His eyes lit up. "I wonder what would happen if you tried to use it on me…"

She hesitated and absentmindedly ran her fingers over the textured red carpet. "Well…I can't."

"You just said you could."

"I can-just not right now. I take this prescription…for depression and other stuff…and it cuts me off from the magic."

He threw his arms up in the air. "How can I teach you to walk through dreams then? How else are we going to find Rose?"

"Look," she said angrily, "I don't want to take the meds. But when I was off them…I did really crazy stuff. Dangerous stuff. That's what spirit does to you."

"I don't take anything. I'm okay," he said.

"You got really weird that day when Dimitri was in your room," she pointed out. "You started rambling, and you didn't make any sense."

"Oh, that? Yeah…it happens now and then. But seriously, not often. Once a month, if that."

Adrian watched as her aura changed and colours of hope started to show. He smiled

"What do you say, cousin?" he asked. "I can teach you everything I know if you're able to touch the magic. It'll take a while for the pills to get out of your system, but once they do, you can learn how to walk in dreams and see auras. And maybe you can teach me how to heal things."

She sat there for a moment, deep in thought. While she was thinking, Adrian was as well. He needed to know more about this 'spirit' element and Lissa was the only one that could help him.

"I'm going to have to think about it," she finally replied.

He nodded. "I guess."

"Well I have to go. I will talk to you later?" she stood up looking down at Adrian.

"Of course. You go," he said as he watched her leave the room. When she left, he got out his packet of cigarettes and lit one. He knew he shouldn't be smoking for two reasons, but he needed to relax and at the moment this was the best way.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I picked up a book from the library the other day that a friend had recommended to me. So I open it up and guess what I found? An aura colour chart. Seriously, why didn't I get this book earlier? Oh well here was what this author thought:

Red: Energy, strength, anger, sexuality, passion, fear, ego

Orange: Self-control, ambition, courage, thoughtfulness, lack of will, apathetic

Yellow: Optimistic, happy, intellectual, friendly, indecisive, easily led

Green: Peaceful, healing, compassion, deceitful, jealous

Blue: Spiritual, loyal, creative, sensitive, kind, moody

Violet: Highly spiritual, wisdom, intuition

Indigo: Benevolence, highly intuitive, seeker

Pink: Love, sincerity, friendship

Gray: Depression, sadness, exhaustion, low energy, scepticism

Brown: Greed, self-involvement, opinionated

Black: Lacking energy, illness, imminent death

White: Perfect balance

Some of these ideas are not bad I guess but some are a bit random. What do you guys think? Personally I might just stick to what I'm doing but it's an idea.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I am soooo sorry for the massive delay. I have just felt so out of it lately and every time I was in the fanficing zone, I couldn't find the piece of paper that had my plot outline. I know very very annoying. Well it is the holidays and I felt so in the zone tonight. I might even right the next chapter now. I have been getting into graphic design which is probably the reason why I haven't updated sooner. It is a lot of fun but it is also very time consuming. I even made a banner for this fanfic.

It is here: .

It's good because if the guy on the cover of Spirit Bound is Dimitri, the banner will show Adrian's sadness and if it is Adrian than it works out as well. I don't picture Adrian as Ed Westwick in my head but if I had to pick someone to play Adrian it would be him.

Spirit Bound is getting closer and closer which is awesome. I am soooo excited, correct me if I am wrong but it is about 43 days!

Also Richelle Mead announced the sixth Vampire Academy book title. It is called Last Sacrifice. Now I REALLY want to read it. If Adrian gets killed off, I will cry.

Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. This chapter has defintately been the most difficult so far because it has kept giving me writer's block. I have about one more chapter to write then I can move onto Shadow Kissed, it will flow a lot more than. Thinking about it now there are a lot of scenes I am really looking forward to writing.

* * *

Adrian Ivashkov sat there smoking cigarette after cigarette, thinking about everything that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. He thought about Rose the most, wondering if she was okay, if Dimitri got to her in time. He also thought about what he wanted to do about being a Spirit User. Lissa could teach him a lot and vice versa. But she was going to go back to school soon. What would he do then?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps approaching. Adrian turned to see Reese standing in the doorway scanning the room. He saw Adrian and grinned as he made his way towards him.

"Didn't take you for the loner type Ivashkov," he said as he sat next Adrian. "So what are you doing here anyway? I thought you would be with that chick at the party."

"I wasn't really in the mood." He knew how lame that sounded but it was true.

Reese turned to look at Adrian with his eyebrows raised. Adrian noticed his staring. "What?"

"You look like crap. Maybe you have been smoking too much. But that can't be it, I have seen you with a _lot_ more in your system and you haven't looked like this. What's on your mind?"

Adrian sighed. "Nothing you want to know."

"Come on, you can tell me anything." Adrian knew he didn't ask it out of friendship only out of curiosity. Reese didn't know about Adrian being a spirit user and he wanted to keep it that way. He grabbed for his cigarettes and lit another one.

"Shouldn't you still be at your party?" Adrian asks trying to change the subject.

Completely distracted Reese went into detail about his party while Adrian tuned out the conversation. His thoughts returned back to Rose as he took a long drag from his cigarette. He watched the clouds that the smoke formed.

"So when do you think we will go back?" Reese asked.

A moment later Adrian replied; "I'm not going back, at least not this semester." The moment Adrian said it he knew that it was the right choice for him.

"What do you mean?" Reese asked, puzzled.

"I'm going to take some time off…sort some stuff out."

"But what will you do?"

Adrian paused. "I don't know yet."

"Gee your dad is going to be pissed when he finds out," Reese said with a smirk on his face.

Adrian shrugged. "Honestly, I think he stopped caring a _long_ time ago."

Reese laughed. "Well as entertaining as this is, I have a party to get back to." Reese patted Adrian on the back as he got up and left the room.

Reese's visit didn't make Adrian feel any better. If it did anything it made him feel worse. The question of what he needed to do was eating away at him. Normally he was fine with not knowing what was going to happen but this time it was different.

Sick of sitting there feeling sorry for himself, he got up, put out his cigarette and left through the same door Reese left through. He walked around the lodge in no particular direction, just kept moving.

He walked down a random corridor and looked up when he heard voices.

"Do you think we are going back to school soon?"

It was the same group of girls that he followed only hours ago. _Seems like days_. This time there was only two of them.

"The guardians are freaking out about something so I think we are."

"Why do you think that?"

They paused as they watched Adrian walk by.

"I don't know, I am just getting this vibe off them that something isn't right"

"How can you tell? They are so serious all the time"

"Yeah but lately that have been acting _too_ serious"

"Well my mum has been freaking out since the last attacks. If we do go back she will probably stay a couple weeks there in the guest rooms to make sure I am still alive"

"That sucks…"

Adrian was out of earshot but he heard enough. _People can stay as guests at the academy? _His thoughts were interrupted when a girl ran right into him. He looked down to see Lissa.

"What are you doing here?" Lissa asked. "Never mind that, they found Rose!"

Adrian frowned. "What?"

"They found Rose. Apparently they were trapped in a basement for days. Strigori were torturing them and everything."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, and they should be arriving back any second. Come, let's go wait out the front for them."

Adrian paused. "You go ahead, I will meet you there."

Not caring, Lissa rushed down the hallway towards the front of the lodge. Adrian watched as he leaned against a close by wall. He knew what he needed to do. He was going to stay at Rose's school and learn Spirit with Lissa. _Maybe I can get Rose in the process_. He walked towards the entrance of the lodge.

When he reached the front he looked out a window and watched from a distance as a car pulled in. when it stopped Dimitri got out the car and went around and got out Rose.

The look on Rose's face would be imprinted in Adrian's brain for the rest of his life. Even though he was far away he could see the emptiness of Rose's eyes. He had seen that look before and it could only mean one thing. She had witnessed death. But that wasn't what freaked Adrian out the most. Even though he had smoked half a packet of cigarettes, he could see her aura perfectly. The shadows had doubled. He wasn't sure if it was because of the feelings of grief or if it was something else. He hoped it was the first option.

He watched as Lissa came sprinting towards her and pulled her into a hug. Rose's face remained expressionless, her eyes full of grief. Not being able to look at her sadness any longer he did something stupid; he looked at Dimitri. Whatever grief Rose was feeling, Dimitri's worry for her overpowered it. It freaked out Adrian.

_What had happened?_

* * *

**Author's Note:** If you guys have anything you want to ask me, you can ask me on my formspring account. I don't mind since you guys are the reason I have written this much :)

Here: .me/niicoleelee


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** School tomorrow :( I know, very depressing. What's not depressing is that I have finished Frostbite now, yay *claps*. Now I can write about Shadow Kissed :D which is my fav book in the series. For people who are wondering yes the next books will be in the same fic so there is no confusion.

30 days to Spirit Bound!!!!! It is getting closer and closer. Can't wait!

* * *

Adrian sat in his room drinking from a bottle of the strongest liquor he could find in his fridge. The image of Rose's empty eyes and grief filled aura played over and over again in his mind. He had left straight after the whole group had arrived. He noticed that the guy that Rose was seeing was missing.

There was a knock on the door. Needing a distraction, Adrian went to open and was surprised to see Dimitri standing there, his eyes filled with the same worry he saw earlier. Adrian stepped to the side letting Dimitri walk in. He sat down on the couch and Adrian sat opposite him. They both sat there in silence.

There was one question that Adrian really needed to know the answer to. He opened his mouth and shut it. On the fourth try he asked Dimitri; "Is she going to be okay?"

Dimitri looked up, knowing straight away who he was talking about. Adrian got his answer the moment he saw Dimitri's expression and he wished he hadn't asked. Dimitri frowned and looked down at the carpet. "I don't know," he said quietly. Adrian noticed the pain in his voice. He took another sip of his drink. Dimitri looked up "I mean physically she is fine except for the burn marks on her wrists but…"

"Mentally she is fucked up," Adrian finished for him. He wondered what the hell had happened to her, he could guess but he wasn't a hundred per cent sure.

"You could say that," he muttered.

"What exactly happened?" he asked.

"It was exactly like you said, the Strigori were holding them down in a basement in a house. They were trying to make one of the Moroi join them by killing one of the Dhampirs. It seems that one of the Strigori was feeding on one of the Dhampirs, he is currently recovering but blood wasn't the only thing he lost. As they were escaping one of the Strigori attacked Rose-" Dimitri flinched "-making one of the other Dhampirs run to her rescue. Mason was killed instantly. Then Rose managed to decapitate the two Strigori with a sword she found close by." _She's been through so much. I should of…_ Adrian frowned. _What could I have done?_

"How did Rose get the burns?" Adrian asked confused.

"One of the Moroi used his fire abilities to melt the plastic cuffs that were keeping Rose trapped. Apparently it was Rose's idea," Dimitri replied. He had gained more control over his voice and the pain and worry was almost hidden. "Now it is my turn to ask the questions, how did you find out what you told me?"

Adrian had a feeling he would ask this and he didn't know how to reply. _Maybe if I tell the truth he will agree to let me stay at the academy._

"I talked to her," he said realising he used the same answer as last time.

"How?"

"Through her dreams"

Dimitri frowned, _"What?"_

"Through her dreams," Adrian said slowly letting the words sink in.

"I don't understand"

"I'm a Spirit user; I used spirit to enter her dream where I talked to her. That is also the reason why Lissa was in my room the other day. I wanted to know more about Spirit, I hadn't talk to a Spirit user before."

"I never knew Spirit users could do that," Dimitri replied still confused.

"They can do a lot of stuff, I'm still learning and so is Lissa," _here it goes_, "which is why I have a favour to ask you."

Dimitri frowned, not even bothering to hide the annoyance on his face. "What?"

"Well, I want to go stay at St Vlads for awhile, about a semester, maybe longer, so I can learn more about Spirit with Lissa. I was wondering if that was okay or that you could get me permission." Normally he would just use compulsion to get what he wanted but he couldn't stay sober long enough to do this.

"Are you sure that's _why_ you want to go?" Adrian knew straight away what Dimitri talked about and it pissed him off. _Does everyone expect so little of me?_

"I'm going so I can learn about spirit, not to extend my holiday"

"That's not what I meant"

"I know"

Dimitri raised his eyebrows.

"I'm not going so I can steal your girlfriend if that is what you're worried about."

"I'm not worried"

Adrian laughed, something he hadn't done in days. "Rose must be rubbing off on you cos I didn't know you were cocky."

Dimitri almost smiled as he stood up. "Fine, I will see what I can do."

He was almost at the door when Adrian remembered something. "When is Mason's funeral?"

Dimitri half turned, "We fly back to the Academy in a couple of hours which is where the funeral will be held at."

Adrian nodded as Dimitri closed the door. He walked towards the phone and ordered a bouquet of flowers that were to be sent to Rose's room back at the Academy. He smirked as he put down the phone. _You're not the only one that's cocky._

****

The Academy jet landed a few hours later. Adrian got off the plane and made his way to the main building. Looking at the gothic structure he thought to himself, _so this is my home for now._ He was directed to one of the guest rooms where he would be staying. He sat down on the couch feeling tired from flying during the day. The funeral was tomorrow at sunset so he had some time to kill. Adrian wanted to explore so he left the room and walked down the hall.

Adrian wished he stayed in his room. The auras of all the people he walked by were full of grief and it was starting to get to him. He almost made it to the end of the hallway when he heard his name.

"Adrian?"

Adrian turned around and saw Lissa walking towards him. Adrian felt relief as he saw her aura bright and golden which seemed to overwhelm the surrounding auras.

"What are you doing here?" Lissa asked.

"Thought I might stop by for Mason's funeral," he replied. "Plus I might be sticking around to learn more about spirit."

"No, I mean what are you doing _here_, you were meant to come with me to meet Ms. Carmack five minutes ago."

Adrian frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't worry now, come on." Lissa grabbed his arm and lead him in the opposite direction.

Lissa and Adrian entered Ms. Carmack's office a minute later. He still had no idea who the hell she is, or what he was doing here but he just went with it.

"Hi I'm Ms. Carmack and you must be Adrian Ivashkov," she said as she shook Adrian's hand.

It turns out that Ms. Carmack was the teacher who taught Moroi who hadn't specialised about magic. Someone had told her about Adrian's abilities, and Adrian was invited to stay at the academy as long as he likes to work on Spirit with Lissa. She then went onto school rules such as no drinking, no smoking, _as if I would follow them. _Adrian just smiled and nodded which is what he usually did in boring conversations.

A few minutes later Adrian and Lissa left the room and headed back down the hallway.

"I would stay and chat but I better get back to Rose," Lissa said.

"How is she?" Adrian asked.

"Well she isn't in shock anymore…but now she is blaming herself for Mason's death," Lissa said frowning. "I still don't know the full story and I'm scared to ask Rose because I don't want her to relieve that pain again."

"When she is ready she will talk to you"

"I hope so. Well I got to go, see you later Adrian"

As soon as she left, the dark grieving auras of the people around him started affecting him again. Adrian moved quickly back to his room where his cigarettes were waiting for him.

****

Adrian woke up in the late afternoon after having a weird dream about Rose. He had decided to use spirit to get into her dreams. She was just sitting in a dark room by herself, the shadows swirling around her. There was a sword lying in front of her and it was covered in blood. Adrian looked across the other side of the room and saw Mason on the ground, obviously dead. He then realised what this dream was about. He looked back at Rose and saw tears running down her face. _Shouldn't there be dead Strigori here as well?_ But there wasn't, this was Rose's way of blaming herself for Mason's death. All Adrian wanted to do right then was to walk up to Rose and hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay. But he couldn't. The look in her eyes was becoming unbearable to watch so Adrian left, feeling weak and useless.

Mason's funeral was in an hour so Adrian began getting ready. He made sure he smoked as much as he could so he wouldn't be able to see the auras. Before he left the room he ordered more flowers for Rose which would arrive after the funeral.

As Adrian walked down, he noticed he couldn't see any auras. _Guess I smoked enough._ He sat at the back away from the crowd. He felt awkward being here but he decided to stay. He scanned the crowd and saw at the front Rose sitting with Lissa and the rest of the group that got captured. He couldn't see her aura this time which Adrian was happy about, _she's okay, she is going to be okay. _Adrian almost smiled then realised where he was again. He looked away and saw Dimitri staring at him. He nodded at Adrian and looked away. He starred off into space, not really paying attention. He noticed someone turn around and look at him. Adrian looked to see Rose looking at him. He would have normally winked at her but this _was_ her boyfriend's funeral. He tilted his head to the side and she rolled her eyes and faced the front. He didn't know what to expect in the future but he knew one thing; _this is going to be interesting_.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** Well I'm back at school at the moment :( I know, it sucks. Thought I might update this while I wait for the new episode of Glee to download (it isn't on the tv yet here in Aus so that is why I am downloading it). This is the first chapter for Shadow Kissed so let's get crack-a-lacking.

Spirit Bound Countdown: 27 Days

* * *

Adrian Ivashkov walked lazily down the hallway with a cigarette in hand. He was bored which he often was here, but then again he always got bored easily. He blew smoke into the air and turned his head to watch it blow away. When he turned, he saw Rose Hathaway walking down the corridor. Even though he couldn't see her aura right now, he could see her face showing signs of anger and frustration. She was stomping through all the puddles in her way and she looked like she wanted to punch something, _or someone._

"Why so glum, little dhampir?" Adrian shouted across the quad.

"Adrian, you are the last person I want to see right now," she said annoyed.

Adrian hurried up beside her, blowing a cloud of smoke into the air that drifted right towards her. She waved it off and made a great show of exaggerated coughing.

"Apparently," he said. "I've hardly seen you at all since we got back." _That you know of_. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were avoiding me."

"I _am_ avoiding you."

He exhaled loudly and raked a hand through his hair. "Look, Rose. You don't have to keep up with the hard-to-get thing. You've already got me."

"I'm really not in the mood for you so-called charm today."

"What happened, then? You're stomping through every puddle that you can find and you look like you're going to punch the first person you see."

"Why are you hanging around, then? Aren't you worried about getting hit?"

"Aw, you'd never hurt me. My face is too pretty."

"Not pretty enough to make up for the gross, carcinogenic smoke blowing in my face. How can you do that? Smoking's not allowed on campus. Abby Badica got two weeks' detention when she got caught."

"I'm above the rules, Rose. I'm neither student nor staff, merely a free spirit* wandering your fair school as I will."

"Maybe you should go do some wondering now."

"You want to get rid of me, you tell me what's going on."

Rose finally gave in, "I got assigned to Christian for my field experience."

There was a pause, and then Adrian burst out laughing. "Wow. Now I understand. In light of that, you actually seem remarkably calm."

"I was supposed to have Lissa," she growled. "I can't believe they did this to me."

"Why _did_ they do it? Is there some chance you might not be with her when you graduate?" Instant fantasies of Rose being his guardian formed in his head.

"No. they just seem to think this is going to help me train better now. Dimitri and I will still be her real guardians later."

Adrian gave her a sidelong glance. "Oh, I'm sure that'll be quite the hardship for you."

"Like I said, your commentary isn't appreciated today."

Ignoring her comment he said. "What's the problem? Christian'll be with Lissa all the time anyway."

Adrian saw in her expression that she thought he had a point though she would never admit it. Adrian changed the subject as they neared the building.

"Have I mentioned your aura to you?" he asked suddenly. He was thinking about Rose's aura when she had returned from captivity by Strigori. Her aura had been so dark, almost completely consumed by the darkness. He frowned at the thought.

"I don't know. Yeah, once. You said it was dark or something. Why?"

"Hard to explain. Maybe it's nothing." He came to a stop near the door and inhaled deeply on his cigarette. He went out of his way to blow a cloud of smoke away from her, but the wind carried it back. "Auras are strange. They ebb and flow and change colours and brightness. Some are vivid, some are pale. Every once in a while, someone's will settle and burn with such a pure colour that you can…" he tipped his head back, staring into the sky. "You can instantly grasp what it means. It's like seeing into their soul."

Rose smiled. "But you haven't figured mine out, huh? Or what any of these colours mean?"

He shrugged. "I'm figuring it out. You talk to enough people, get a feel for what they're like and then start to see the same kinds of people with the same kinds of colours… After a while, the colours start to mean something."

"What's mine look like right now?"

He glanced over at her. "Eh, I can't quite get a fix on it today."

"I knew it. You've been drinking."

"Just enough to chase the chill away. I can guess what your aura's like, though. It's usually like the others, sort of those swirling colours -it's just kind of edged in darkness. Like you've always got a shadow following you."

"That's so cheerful," she said. "You ever think about motivational speaking?"

"Don't worry, little dhampir. You might be surrounded by clouds, but you'll always be like sunshine to me," he said grinning. She rolled her eyes. He dropped the cigarette onto the sidewalk and put it out with his foot. "Gotta go. See you later." He swept her a gallant bow and started walking away towards his room.

"You just littered!" he heard her yell.

"Above the rules, Rose," he called back. "Above the rules." Adrian smiled as he walked the rest of the way back to his room.

* * *

**Author's Note:** *btw when I was reading that part of the book again I noticed that there was a pun there. Am I the only one to notice this or am I just slow? Cos you know, you know he is a spirit user and he used the word spirit to describe himself, see? Okay I will shut up now. Forgot how much I love this book. I will update as soon as I can. Knowing me I have just jinxed myself. Oh well, it is the thought that counts.

Also I just finished watching Glee. I love that show so much. Not as many funny quotes as the last ep but I still thought it was good. Now I got to go do my math homework :(


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** Omg it is freezing right now, so I decided to get into bed with my laptop and update this, hopefully I don't spill any hot chocolate onto the laptop. Well Penguin Australia yesterday posted a sneak peak of Spirit Bound, it is a quote from the book and they are planning on releasing another one once every three days in the lead up to the release. Since I am nice I will post it here and the future ones in my future updates. If you don't want to read them just skip the rest of the author note cos that is about it.

One: "Out of all the people who would attempt to rescue me, I would never have expected you two…"

Spirit Bound Countdown: 21 Days (That's 3 weeks :D)

* * *

_Why am I always late?_ Adrian thought as he made his way to the library. He was meant to meet up with Lissa after her classes finished, _At least I'm sober._ Students were walking up and down the corridors using the time they had before curfew. There was a small crowd that blocked Adrian's path to the library. He stopped when he noticed the colours of the auras.

They were filled with shock, fear, panic and some other emotions. He noticed a large black shadow that seemed to overpower the other auras. _What the hell._ Adrian moved forward and heard an argument going on in the centre of the crowd.

"You're crazy! You can't hurt a Moroi. If the guardians find out-"

"I'm not." Adrian recognised Rose's voice immediately. "Am I hurting you? Are you in extreme pain?"

Adrian finally saw Rose who was pinning a Moroi girl against the wall. The girl hesitated before shaking her head to Rose's question. The girl was clearly freaked out.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Rose asked.

She gave a small nod.

"See?" she told a dhampir boy that she appeared to be having the argument with. "Discomfort isn't the same thing as pain."

_What the hell?_ Adrian thought again. The large black shadow was Rose's aura and it was almost as dark as the time when she arrived back after Mason's death.

"You're insane. Let her go."

"I'm not done, Ry. Pay attention because here's the point: Danger can come from anywhere. Not just Strigoi-or guardians dressed up like Strigori. Keep acting like an arrogant asshole who thinks he knows everything"- Rose pressed her arm in a little harder – "and you miss things. And those things can kill your Moroi."

"Okay, okay. Whatever. Please, stop it," he said freaked out. "You're scaring her."

"I'd be scared too, if my life was in your hands."

Adrian broke through the crowd and approached Rose.

"This is fascinating," said Adrian. "But I think you've made your point."

"I don't know," she said. "I still don't think Ryan gets it."

"For God's sake, Rose! I get it," cried Ryan. "Just let her go."

Adrian knew Rose wasn't going to anytime soon, so he decided to intervene. He moved around Rose, going over to stand beside the Moroi. He managed to squeeze in between the two girls facing Rose. He stared into Rose's eyes and let Spirit take its affect.

"Yes, little dhampir. Let her go. You're done here."

He saw her eyes glazing over and he knew it had worked but she wouldn't move.

"Let her go," he repeated.

She stared at him as she moved her arm away from the Moroi and stepped away. The Moroi ran over to the boy using him as a shield from Rose. She was on the verge of tears and the boy looked stunned.

Adrian straightened up and made a dismissive gesture toward the boy. "I'd get out of here-before you _really_ annoy Rose."

Everyone slowly backed off and moved away from them. Adrian put his arm around Rose and hurried her away toward the library. When they were almost there, she suddenly pushed his arm off her and jerked away.

"You used compulsion on me!" she exclaimed. "You made me let her go."

"Someone needed to. You looked like you were seconds away from strangling her."

"I wasn't. And I wouldn't have." She pushed open the library door. "You had no right to do that to me. No right at all."

"And you had no right to tackle some poor girl in the hall just to soothe your own hurt pride."

"Ryan had no right to say those things."

"I don't even know what 'those things' are, but unless I've misjudged your age, you're too old to be throwing a tantrum over idle gossip."

"Throwing a-"

She stopped as they reached Lissa working at a table. Adrian saw the anger in her aura. The dhampir named Eddie stood a couple of feet away from her, leaning against a wall and watching the room. His eyes widened when he saw Rose. _Am I missing something?_

Rose slid into the chair opposite Lissa. Adrian sat down in one of the remaining chairs.

"Hey," she said.

Lissa looked up and sighed, then returned her attention to the textbook open in front of her. "I wondered when you'd turn up," she said. "Did you get suspended?"

"Not this time," Rose replied mimicking the false calm in her voice. "Just got stuck with community service."

Lissa didn't say anything but Adrian saw the annoyance and anger in her aura.

Rose sighed. "Okay talk to me, Liss. I know you're mad."

Adrian looked at Rose, then at Lissa, and then at Rose again. "I feel like I'm missing something here."

"Oh great," Rose said. "You went and busted up my fight and didn't even know what it was about."

"Fight?" Lissa asked confused.

"What happened?" repeated Adrian.

Rose nodded to Lissa. "Go ahead, tell him."

"Rose got tested earlier and refused to protect Christian." She shook her head, exasperated and fixed Rose with an accusatory glare. "I can't believe you're seriously still mad enough to do something like that to him. It's childish."

"I didn't do it on purpose! I just sat through a whole hearing on this crap and told them the same thing."

"Then what happened?" she demanded. "Why _did_ you do it?"

Rose hesitated before answering. "I froze," she said. "It's stupid. I'd been so cocky about being able to take out anyone, and then Stan…" she shrugged. "I don't know. I just couldn't react. It…it's really embarrassing. And him of all people."

"I wish I could read your mind," she mused.

"Come on," she said. "You know me. Do you really think I'd do this? Abandon Christian and make myself look stupid on purpose just to get back at my teachers?"

"No," Lissa said. "You'd probably do it in a way where you wouldn't get caught."

"Dimitri said the same thing," she grumbled. "I'm glad everyone has so much faith in me."

"We do," she countered. "That's why all of this is so weird."

"Even I make mistakes. I know it's hard to believe-kind of surprises me myself-but I guess it has to happen. It's probably some kind of karmic way to balance out the universe. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fair to have one person so full of awesomeness."

Adrian sat and watched the two of them talk, studying their auras. From what he could tell, Rose was hiding something from Lissa.

"My loyal bodyguard returns," declared Christian as he entered the room. He pulled up a chair next to Lissa. "Are you done now?"

"Done with what?"

He inclined his head towards Rose. "Giving her a hard time about how she threw me into the deadly clutches of Alto."

Lissa blushed. "We were just talking about it, that's all."

Adrian yawned and slouched back in his chair. "Actually, I think I figured it all out. This was a scam, wasn't it? A scam to scare me off since I'm always talking about you being my guardian. You thought if you pretended to be a bad guardian, I wouldn't bother you. Well, it's not going to work, so there's no point in risking anyone's life."

Ignoring his comment Rose said."So um…there's something you guys should know."

Everyone looked at Rose.

"What's wrong?" asked Lissa.

"Well, it turns out that Victor Dashkov was never found guilty of what he did to us. He's just been locked up. But they're finally going to have an official trial-in another week or so."

"But…but…" She took a deep, steadying breath, fighting to stay calm. "How could he not be guilty already? Everyone knows…they all saw…"

"It's the law. They supposedly have to give him a fighting chance."

"So…wait…are you saying there's a chance they might not find him guilty?"

Christian slammed his fists against the table. "This is bullshit."

"This is politics," said Adrian. "People in power never have to play by the same rules."

"But he nearly killed Rose and Christian!" cried Lissa. "And he kidnapped me! How could there be any question?"

"It's a formality, I'm sure," said Adrian. "When all the evidence is in, there probably isn't going to be much of a debate."

"That's the thing," Rose said bitterly. "They're not going to have all the evidence. We aren't allowed to go."

"What?" exclaimed Christian. "Then who's testifying?"

"The other guardians who were there. We apparently can't be trusted to keep the whole thing quiet. The queen doesn't want the world to know that one of her precious royals might have done something wrong."

"But we're the reason he is on trial."

Christian stood up, glancing around. "I'm going to go take care of this right now."

"Sure," said Adrian. "I bet going in there and kicking down the door will change their minds. Take Rose with and you guys'll make a really good impression."

"Yeah?" asked Christian, clenching the back of his chair and fixing Adrian with a stormy glare. "You have a better idea?" _Actually I do._

"If Victor was free," Lissa said losing her calm. "Would he come after us again?"

"If he gets loose again, he won't stay that way for long," Rose said. "I'll make sure of it."

"Careful there," said Adrian amused. "Even you couldn't get away with a royal assassination."

Rose was about to retort when Eddie called her name. She quickly stood up and got into her lookout position.

Adrian tuned out and relaxed back into his chair watching Rose's aura. She had confessed about Victor's trial but there was still something she was hiding. _What are you up to little dhampir?_


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** Woo, an update :D Well just a heads up that I am approaching my school exams so I might not update as much until it is over. Plus Spirit Bound will be a big distraction. I am kind of peeved about the release date because Spirit Bound comes out the day before my exams start and my first exam is math :( Well I read Blood Promise in 9 hours so we will see, but then again I stayed up to like 3 o'clock in the morning reading that. I will figure something out. Okay now on to the Spirit Bound quotes:

Two "This is it, a small voice inside her whispered. This is where I die."

Three "Eternity will be lonely without you."

Four "She wasn't alone. I was with her all night."

Five "Because I need you to be bait for Rose."

Send me a message with your opinions, etc. if you want to discuss.

Spirit Bound Countdown: 10 Days :O

Adrian lied down in his bed trying to get to sleep. He kept thinking about Rose and what she was hiding from everyone. He was worried about her aura, the shadows seemed to intensify when she was holding that Moroi against the wall. It wasn't like Rose to act like this and he had a feeling it was to do with her aura. _It will have to wait to later,_ he thought as he fell asleep.

Adrian dreamt about his grandmother's garden. It was the middle of summer. The air was heavy and humid, and sunshine beat down in golden waves. Flowers of every colour were in bloom, and the air was heavy with the scent of lilacs and roses.

He walked around studying the flowers, old memories of all the times he had come here came back to him. All the times that he had walk these gardens when he was he kid, learning all about what it was to be a royal from his grandmother. She was one of the few that had hope for him.

Adrian stared at one of the roses. He frowned when the rose began to change colour. In a blink of an eye, the rose had turned black. He reached out and touched one of the petals. He concentrated as he allowed spirit to flow through him and into the flower. Within moments the rose was back to its original red.

Adrian heard footsteps behind and he turned to see Rose standing in the garden. _Must have made her appear when I was using spirit._ She wore jeans and a linen tank top along with her usual protection. Rose looked extremely annoyed and her aura showed it along with its usual shadows. He wished he knew how to make _that_ colour go away.

"Where are you?" she called. "I know you're here."

Adrian stepped around from behind an apple tree that was thick with pink and white flowers.

"I told you to stay out of my dreams," she said, putting her hands on her hips.

He gave her a lazy smile. "But how else are we supposed to talk? You didn't seem very friendly earlier."

"Maybe if you didn't use compulsion on people, you'd have more friends."

"I had to save you from yourself. Your aura was like a storm cloud."

"Okay, for once, can we please not talk about auras and my impending doom?"

He would rather have talked about it, but he let it go. "Okay. We can talk about other things."

"But I don't want to talk at all! I want to sleep."

"You are sleeping." Adrian smiled and walked over to study a flowering vine that was winding up a post. It had orange and yellow flowers shaped like trumpets. He gently ran his fingers over one of the flowers' edges. "This was my grandmother's garden."

"Great," she said, making herself comfortable against the apple tree. "Now I get to hear your family history."

"Hey, she was a cool lady."

"I'm sure she was. Can I go yet?"

His eyes were still on the vine's blossoms. "You shouldn't knock Moroi family trees. You don't know anything about your father. For all you know, we could be related."

"Would that mean you'd leave me alone?"

He strolled back over to her changing subjects with ease. "Nah, don't worry. I think we come from different trees. Isn't your dad some Turkish guy anyway?"

"Yeah, according to my- Hey, are you staring at my chest?"

He was studying her closely, but his eyes were no longer on her face. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared.

"I'm staring at your shirt," he said. "The color is all wrong."

Reaching out, he touched the strap. Like ink spreading across paper, the ivory fabric turned the same shade of rich indigo as the vine's blossoms. He narrowed his eyes like an expert artist studying his work.

"How'd you do that?" she exclaimed.

"It's my dream. Hmm. You're not a blue person. Well, at least not in the color sense. Let's try this." The blue lit up into a brilliant crimson. "Yes, that's it. Red's your color. Red like a rose, like a sweet, sweet Rose."

"Oh man," she said. "I didn't know you could kick into crazy mode even in dreams."

He stepped back and threw his arms out. "I'm crazy around you, Rose. Here, I'm going to write an impromptu poem for you." He tipped his head back and shouted to the sky:

"Rose is in red  
But never in blue  
Sharp as a thorn  
Fights like one too."

Adrian dropped his arms and looked at her expectantly.

"How can a thorn fight?" she asked.

He shook his head, _so naive_. "Art doesn't have to make sense, little dhampir. Besides, I'm supposed to be crazy, right?"

"Not the craziest I've ever seen."

"Well," he said, pacing over to study some hydrangeas, "I'll work on that."

"Adrian…how do you know if you're crazy or not?"

He turned from the flowers, a smile on his face. But then he saw her face, there was no trace of humor in her eyes. His smile faded matching her seriousness.

"Do you think you're crazy?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said, looking down at the ground. "I've been…seeing things." _Was this what she was hiding?_

"People who are crazy rarely question whether they are crazy," he said wisely.

She sighed and looked back up at him. "That doesn't really help me."

He walked over to her and rested a hand on her shoulder. "I don't think you're crazy, Rose. I think you've been through a lot, though."

Rose frowned. "What's that mean?"

"It means I don't think you're crazy."

"Thanks. That clears things up. You know, these dreams are _really_ starting to bug me."

"Lissa doesn't mind them," he said.

"You visit hers too? Do you seriously have no boundaries?"

"Nah, hers are instructional. She wants to learn how to do this."

"Great. So I'm the lucky one who gets to put up with your sexual harassment."

Adrian tried to hide the hurt and anger that he felt at her words. "I really wish you wouldn't act like I'm evil incarnate."

"Sorry. I just haven't had much reason to believe you can do anything useful."

"Right. As opposed to your cradle-robbing mentor. I don't really see you making progress with him."

She took a step back and narrowed her eyes. "Leave Dimitri out of this."

"I will when you stop acting like he's perfect. Correct me if I'm wrong, but he's the one of the people who hid the trial from you, right?" _I wouldn't hide anything from you._

She looked away. "That's not important right now. Besides he had his reasons."

"Yeah, which apparently didn't involve being open with you _or_ fighting to get you there. Whereas me…" He shrugged. "I could get you into the trail."

"You?" Rose asked with a harsh laugh. "How are you going to pull that off? Have a smoke break with the judge? Use compulsion on the queen and half the royals at court?"

"You shouldn't be so quick to slam people who can help you. Just wait." He placed a light kiss on her forehead that she tried to wiggle away from. "But for now, get some rest."

Rose faded away along with the garden.

Adrian woke up frustrated. He wished that Rose would stop thinking that all he wanted from her was sex. He felt weird around her, he acted weird around her. He had stopped thinking about other girls, they seemed boring to him now. Rose was different, and so was he because of her. If Reese knew what he was thinking now he would pay him out for being whipped, but he didn't care. _I will prove her wrong; I will show her I better then that stupid Belikov._ He knew exactly what to do but it would have to wait until later. Adrian sighed as he went back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the hiatus :/. I am writing this in the middle of my TrueBlood marathon, season three starts tomorrow :O. Hopefully I don't randomly start adding in TrueBlood into this chapter, though that would be funny. Just a thought, who would win in a fight; Dimitri or Eric?

Ooooo, almost forgot (how could I?) yeah I read Spirit Bound :D lol seems like ages ago. Well anyway it was soooo freaking awesome and there was SO MUCH ADRIAN :D seriously if you haven't read it yet, get off your butt and read it. Feel free to send me messages with your rants and theories.  
Can't wait till this fic get's up to Spirit Bound. But for now here is Shadow Kissed.

* * *

Adrian woke the next morning, still annoyed with his conversations with Rose from last night. He had to prove her wrong, and he knew exactly how to do it. After taking a few moments to wake up completely, he got out of bed and walked over to grab his phone that he had left on the coffee table. There was text from Reese which Adrian ignored. He called the number and listened to the phone ringing.

"Hello, Ivashkov residence," said a cheerful voice.

"It's Adrian…is my mom there?" he asked. He knew she would be there, she always having tea with one of her guests at this time.

"Lord Ivashkov, just a moment please," she replied putting him on hold. He tapped his fingers against the table impatiently.

"Adrian?" his mother said a few minutes later. He had forgotten how much he missed his mother and he smiled at the sound of her voice.

"Hey mom," he replied. His smile grew when he heard her reaction through the phone. _She must have missed me to,_ he thought making a mental note to try and call her more often. He listened patiently as she continued to fill Adrian in with everything that had been happening at the Royal Court. His father wasn't mentioned to Adrian's relief. "So I was wondering if my favorite Great-Aunt was around."

"Yes, as a matter of fact she is having tea with me now," she replied soundly slightly disappointed. "I'll let you talk to her now." Hearing her disappointment made Adrian sad but he had to focus on why he was calling in the first place.

"Hello Adrian," said Queen Tatiana. "How lovely it is to hear from you."

"Sorry but this isn't a social call," said Adrian, getting straight to the point.

"I see, what a pity," she replied not sounding disappointed, more curious than anything else. "Well, what is it Adrian?"

"I was wondering why Vasilisa, Rosemarie and Christian are not allowed to attend the Dashkov Trial. Care to enlighten me?" he asked trying to sound as relaxed as possible.

He heard her sigh. "Oh Adrian, you already know why, I presume. This is a serious case and we don't need school children there making a scene, you know how the people talk around here."

Adrian ran a hand through his hair. "But shouldn't it be a fair trial? How is that possible without all the witnesses present, especially the victim?"

"The guardian testimonies will be enough, there is already enough evidence to convict Mr. Dashkov."

"Well…don't you want to improve your relationship with Vasilisa? She is starting to become a very important influence within Moroi politics and soon she will have to take her place as the representative for the Dragamor's. I don't think disallowing her to attend this trial is going to have a positive effect in her views of you." Adrian didn't like talking like this but he knew this was the only way she was going to agree; she valued her power too highly.

She laughed. "I forgot how persuasive you can be. Well I'll make a deal with you," she said, her tone turning serious again.

Adrian frowned; _this cannot be good._ "What is it?"

"Don't worry, it's not much to ask. I'll let Vasilisa attend the trial, as long as you come visit me while you are here."

Adrian raised an eyebrow; _that's it?_ "What about Rose and Christian? You know she would want them to be there."

"Very well, they may also attend. I will contact the school and inform them of my decision."

"Thank you, I will see you there," he said as she disconnected the call. Adrian put the phone back down on the coffee table. He smiled to himself, he had gotten what he wanted. He couldn't wait to rub it in Rose's face. He frowned. No, he couldn't do that. She would probably get annoyed at him if he did.

Adrian shook his head, smiling. _I so need a drink._

* * *

The next few days were a blur to Adrian. He continued going to Lissa to practice Spirit while spending the rest of his time researching it. Lissa was worried about not being able to use Spirit yet, she was impatient about waiting for the medication to completely leave her system. Still she continued to try and see the auras of people. Adrian decided that he would wait until she had full access to her magic before attempting to teach her dream walking even though it annoyed her.

Adrian made sure not to mention his conversation with the Queen. He also refrained from entering Rose's dreams and he held back on the flirting. He could see that she was extremely frustrated, though she hid it very well. He wondered why but he didn't think it was because of him. It was probably a guardian thing.

It was a couple of hours before dinner and Adrian knew they were out of class. He was bored so he went looking for them. He found them a few minutes later settled in one of the lounges watching a movie. He slipped into the room, winking at Rose who stood against the wall in her guardian position. He couldn't see her aura clearly due to the drinks he had earlier but he could tell she was pissed off about something. He went and sat in an armchair close to her.

"Are you sober?" Rose asked him when the movie ended.

"Sober enough, what have you guys been up to?"

They all recapped what had happened earlier. There had been a guardian test which apparently Eddie had completed quite bravely.

"Nice work," said Adrian. "Looks like you got a battle scar too." He pointed to the side of Eddie's face where three red marks glared back at them.

Eddie lightly touched his cheek. "I can barely feel it."

Lissa leaned forward and studied him. "You got that protecting me."

"I got that trying to pass my field experience," he teased. "Don't worry about it."

Adrian watched in amazement as Lissa reached out and touched Eddie's face, and the marks vanished.

"Son of a bitch," breathed Adrian. "You weren't kidding about that." He peered at Eddie's cheek. "Not a goddamned trace of it."

Lissa had stood up and now sank back to the couch. She leaned her head back against it and closed her eyes. "I did it. I can still do it."

"Of course you can," said Adrian dismissively. "Now you have to show _me_ how to do it."

She opened her eyes. "It's not that easy."

"Oh I see," he said in an exaggerated tone. "You grill me like crazy about how to see auras and walk in dreams, but now you won't reveal your trade secrets."

"It's not a 'won't'," she argued. "It's a 'can't'."

"Well, cousin, _try_," he said as he raked his nails across his hand and drew blood.

"Jesus Christ!" Rose yelped. "Are you insane?"

But he ignored her as he watched Lissa reach out and hold his hand, healing the skin. He noticed, even though he had a few drinks, her aura shining brightly. He saw the joy she received when using the magic and he couldn't wait to experience that.

They went into a deep discussion on Spirit. They discussed when he was going to learn and she had finally agreed to teach him next time when he noticed Christian's aura. He saw the jealousy he felt towards him.

Christian stood up, looking bored. "Come on, Rose. If I wanted to listen to this, I'd be back in class. I'm hungry."

Lissa glanced up. "Dinner's not for another hour and a half."

"Feeder," he said. "I haven't had mine today."

He planted a kiss on Lissa's cheek and then left, Rose following alongside him. Adrian watched her until she was out of his sight before continuing his discussion with Lissa.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Wow, amazing how many times I was tempted to chuck in a TrueBlood quote. I wished the queen in Vampire Academy was as awesome as the one in TrueBlood but oh well .

I'm not sure when I will post the next chapter because I recently got an English assignment which is really awesome one cos we get to write an essay on any time period we want and I am writing mine on the Salem Witch Hunt. It will probably take up a lot of my writing time. Hopefully not all of it.

I recently made a new tumblr just for you guys. There I will be posting the stuff I post here as well as messages about updates and fanfics that I am enjoying at the moment, etc. Feel free to check it out if you are ever wondering why it is taking ages to update, or you can leave me messages there or ask me stuff. Link is on my profile

I would also like to say thanks to the people who took the time to read my Vampire Academy one-shot. Lol I knew after I read spirit bound I would think it was crap :D your reviews were awesome though

Well 184 days to Last Sacrifice, not that I'm counting :D


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:** really 1000000 times sorry for the delay. First it was my English assignment and I thought I would update this in the holidays but I didn't and then I went back to school and yeah.

Just remembered that Richelle Mead posted the cover for Last Sacrifice, it is posted on her livejournal and on her site if you want to see it. Thoughts? Do you like it?

I looked at my profile the other day and I noticed the number of reviews this fanfic has gotten. HOLY CRAP! 99 REVIEWS! Lol quick be my hundredth reviewer :D. I kind of feel like a twat for not replying to all of your reviews. I will try to even if it is just a thank you. Seriously guys, you mean so much to me and I always get excited when I open my email and it says Review Alert and I jump up and down like a prat :D

Last Sacrifice = 122 Days

* * *

Adrian relaxed and leaned back into the plane seat. He took a sip from his glass as he looked out the window. He watched as Rose walked onto the landing strip, luggage in hand. He frowned when he saw her running over to Belikov with the biggest smile on her face. Adrian rolled his eyes and looked away.

"There's Rose," Eddie said to Lissa, pointing out the window. "She took her time didn't she?" Adrian didn't remember asking Queen Tatiana to let Eddie come along but he just shrugged and went with it.

Christian stepped into the cabin and smiled when he saw Lissa. Eddie moved to the seat in front to let Christian sit next to her. A moment later, Rose entered through the same door Christian had.

"Little dhampir! About time you got here," Adrian called to her. He waved as she turned to face him with an annoyed expression. He watched as she deliberately sat in seat away from him. He smiled as he put down his drink and moved to the seat in front of her. _Not going to get away that easy._

He turned in his seat, constantly talking and flirting with her. She seemed more annoyed than usual but he kept the conversation flowing.

"We're going to court," he said. "Aren't you excited about it?"

She closed her eyes rubbing her temples with her hands. "About which one? The royal one or the legal one?"

"The royal one. Did you bring a dress?"

"Nobody told me to."

"So… that's a 'no'."

"Yes."

"Yes? I thought you meant no," he replied teasing her.

She opened one eye to glare at him. "I did mean no, and you know it. No, I did not bring a dress."

"We'll get you one," he said loftily.

"You're going to take me shopping? I'm going to go out on a limb and guess they won't consider you a reliable chaperone."

"Shopping? As if. There are tailors that live there. We'll get you something custom-made."

"We're not staying that long. And do I really need a dress for what we're doing there?"

"No, I'd just kind of like to see you in one."

She sighed as she leaned her head against the window pain. He watched as her eyes widened and she looked to the window and frowned.

"Something black," he continued. "Satin I think…maybe with a lace trim. Do you like lace? Some women think it itches."

"Adrian."

"You could get a nice velvet trim too, though. That wouldn't itch."

"Adrian."

"And then a slit up the side to show off what great legs you have. It could go nearly to the hip and have this cute little bow-"

"_Adrian!_" Rose snapped. "Will you shut the hell up for five seconds?" she yelled. Adrian just looked at her, shocked; not at her outburst but at her aura. He felt idiotic for not noticing it before. He thought he had seen it all but right at that moment…it was terrifying. The shadows surrounding her seemed to press down on her, sucking away any other colour that was in her aura before. He thought he saw shapes in her aura as well but they vanished the moment he saw them.

Alberta, sitting across the aisle from Adrian, shot up in her seat. "Rose," she exclaimed. "What's going on?"

Rose gritted her teeth and rubbed her forehead. "I have the _worst_ fucking headache in the world, and he won't shut up." She looked frightened for a split second before covering her eyes. "God, why won't it go away?"

"She hasn't eaten today. She was really hungry earlier," Christen said.

She opened her eyes. Adrian saw the hint of fear in her eyes which she blinked away. _Can she see the shapes as well?_

He watched as Alberta turned to one of the flight attendants.

"Can you get her something to eat? And find a painkiller?"

Dimitri was standing with her, his focus on Rose.

"Where's it at?" Dimitri asked Rose. "The pain?"

"It's a headache…I'm sure it'll go away…" She pointed to the centre of her forehead. "It's like something pushing on my skull. And there's pain kind of behind my eyes. I keep feeling like…well, it's like I've got something in my eye. I think I'm seeing a shadow or something. Then I blink and it's gone." _If I only I could blink away _your_ shadows._

"Ah," said Alberta. "That's a migraine symptom –having vision problems." Adrian had seen people's auras with migraines. This was definitely not a migraine. "It's called an aura. People sometimes get it before the headache sets in."

"An aura?" Rose asked, startled. She glanced at Adrian.

"Not that kind," he said, a small smile turning up his lips. "Same name. Like Court and court. Migraine auras are images and light you see when a migraine's coming on. They have nothing to do with the auras around people I see. But I tell you…the aura I can see…the one around you…wow."

"Black?"'

"And then some. It's obvious even after all the drinks I've had. Never seen anything like it."

Rose looked thoughtful as the flight attendant returned with a banana, a granola bar, and some ibuprofen. Adrian turned around and let her eat in peace.

He looked back when he saw Lissa sit in the seat next to Rose. Rose's eyes filled with brief terror which caused her to flinch.

"You're still in pain?" asked Lissa, peering at Rose. She blinked and began to relax again.

"Yeah, I –oh no," Rose replied. "Don't do it. Don't waste it on me."

"It's easy," she said. "It hardly fazes me."

"Yeah, but the more you use it…the more it hurts you in the long run. Even if it's easy now."

"I'll worry about that later. Here."

She clasped Rose's hand between hers and closed her eyes. Adrian saw the magic in Lissa as it reached out to Rose…but it didn't touch her. Lissa's eyelids fluttered open.

"Wh –what happened?" she asked.

"Nothing," Rose said. "The headache's still going strong."

"But I…" Lissa started, confused. "I had it. I felt the magic. It worked."

"I don't know Liss. It's okay, really. You haven't been off the meds that long, you know."

"Yeah, but I healed Eddie the other day without any problems. And Adrian," she added dryly.

"Those were scrapes," Rose said. "This is a five-alarm migraine we're walking about. Maybe you've got to build back up."

Lissa bit her lower lip. "You don't think the pills permanently hurt my magic, do you?"

"Nah," said Adrian, head tilted to the side. "You lit up like a supernova when you were summoning it. You had magic. I just don't think it had any effect on her."

"Why not?" she demanded.

"Maybe she's got something you can't heal." He tried to hide the fear he felt from his on words.

"A headache?" Rose asked in disbelief.

He shrugged. "What do I look like, a doctor? I don't know. Just telling you what I saw."

She sighed and a placed a hand on her forehead. "Well, I appreciate the help, Liss, and I appreciate your annoying commentary Adrian. But I think sleep might be the best thing for now. Maybe it's stress or something. Probably can't heal that."

"Maybe," Lissa said.

"It's okay," she said soothingly. "You're just getting your stride back. Once you're up to full power, I'll go crack a rib or something so we can test it."

She groaned. "The horrible part is that I don't think you're joking." Lissa stood up. "Sleep well."

Adrian didn't turn around in his seat completely until he saw her aura soften with sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:** just a heads up, I have no idea when I will update this next. I have a fanfiction challenge deadline coming up which I want to get finished early so I can have time to update this again. The deadline is the 5th of September just so you know. I will probably update late September because my trial exams are mid-September and I have at least 5 assignments before that O_O


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** Guess whose back? Did you miss me? :D Well I thought I might update this before I began reading another Dramione fanfic. Seriously they are addictive. I'm starting to write my one which will be a major project that I will begin posting next year, hopefully. Seriously it is going to be stupidly long :D  
I'm kind of worried that I am starting to lose motivation for this fic. Don't worry though I won't abandon it completely and even if I did I would give you notice (you don't need to worry though). I bet you I will be updating this like crazy when it gets closer to the release date of Last Sacrifice.

A quick recap for people who can't remember what happened in the last chapter: it is now up to chapter eleven of Shadow Kiss where previously Rose was experiencing the negative effects of being Shadow Kissed while on the plane ride to the royal court, everyone was worried about her including Adrian. Got it? Good. :D now enough with the word vomit and on with the fic ;)

Last Sacrifice = 70 Days (I might be a day off :/)

* * *

Just after stepping off the plane, Adrian was summoned by the queen. He rolled his eyes as he followed the guardian towards the parlor. He wasn't surprised Tatiana had requested him this quickly. She probably thought that this would be the most sober he would be today. Plus she was incredibly busy. No matter how much she wanted this social call, it would be difficult to fit into her schedule.

When he arrived, Tatiana and Priscilla were seated. Their discussion ceased when they noticed his arrival.

"Adrian," called Tatiana. "Come sit down here." She gestured to the love seat across from her. He smiled as he made towards the seat. "Your flight went smoothly I presume?"

"Of course," he replied ignoring the part of him that still worried about Rose.

"If you don't mind I invited Vasilisa to join us later. I have been anxious to talk to her." He knew that she was bringing up their earlier conversation. He shrugged in response. "Do tell me, how has your work with her been lately?"

"We have been researching different Spirit abilities and practicing what we already know."

"So what abilities have you been practicing?" asked the queen, intrigued.

Adrian watched as Moroi servant came in and offered drinks. He took a glass of wine from the tray and took a sip from it before answering. "Well, Lissa has been trying to teach me healing."

"What have you been practicing on?"

"Plants actually. We have been using Spirit to make them grow faster."

"Interesting," she replied as the servant served her tea. "I wonder. Could you bring here a pot of the Easter lilies that came in last week," she asked the servant.

They bowed before leaving the room with the tray.

"I wonder if Miss Dragomir could demonstrate her abilities here. Frankly, I grow tired of waiting for the lilies to bloom so it is an extra bonus."

He chuckled. "You want Vasilisa to do the gardening?"

"I'm just saying that if she were to demonstrate her abilities she must as well put them to good use. Unless _you_ would like to?" she replied smiling at him.

"Unfortunately I am not sober enough and even if I was I'm not very good at it anyway so you are not missing out."

The servant returned carrying a flowerpot and placed it on the table. They bowed again and left the room. Tatiana picked up her cup and sipped her tea.

Adrian turned when he heard people approaching the door. He saw Lissa standing beside a guardian.

"Princess Vasilisa Dragomir," announced the guardian that escorted Lissa.

Tatiana nodded in acknowledgment. "Welcome, Vasilisa please sit down."

Lissa sat down near Adrian. The servant came by and offered tea or coffee, but Lissa declinded. Tatina meanwhile sipped from a teacup and scrutinized Lissa from head to toe. Priscilla Voda broke the awkward silence.

"Remember what I said about her?" Priscilla asked cheerfully. "She was very impressive at our state dinner in Idaho. Settled a huge spat over Moroi fighting with guardians. She even managed to calm Adrian's father down."

A frosty smile crossed Tatiana's cold features. "That is impressive. Half the time, I still feel like Nathan is twelve years old."

"Me too," said Adrian, drinking from a wine glass.

Tatiana ignored him and focused on Lissa. "Everyone seems impressed with you, really. I hear nothing but good things about you, in spite of your past transgressions…which I'm given to understand weren't entirely without their reasons." Lissa's look of surprise actually made the queen laugh. There wasn't much warmth or humor in the laugh, though. "Yes, yes…I know all about your powers, and of course I know what happened with Victor. Adrian's been filling me in about spirit as well. It's so strange. Tell me…can you…" she glanced towards the nearby table with the flowerpot on top.

Lissa hesitated. Adrian could tell that using her powers in front of others was still very new to her. But, Tatiana was watching expectantly. After only a few moments more, Lissa leaned over and touched the shoots. The stems shot up through the dirt, growing taller –almost a foot high. Huge pods formed along the sides as it grew, bursting open to reveal fragrant white flowers. Lissa withdrew her hand.

Wonder showed on Tatiana's face, and she muttered something in a language that Adrian didn't understand. Within seconds, she put her stately mask back on.

"Hmm. Interesting," she said.

"It could be very useful," said Priscilla. "Vasilisa and Adrian can't be the only two out there with it. If we could find others, so much could be learned."

"Begging your pardon, Princess Voda…I'm not sure we should be so eager to use my –or others' –healing powers as much as you might want to."

"Why not?" asked Tatiana. "From what I understand, you can heal almost anything."

"I can…" said Lissa slowly. "And I want to. I wish I could help everybody, but I can't. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll definitely help some people. But I know we'd run into other people like Victor, who want to abuse it. And after a while…I mean, how do you choose? Who gets to live? Part of life is that…well, some people have to die. My powers aren't a prescription you can get filled as needed, and honestly, I'm afraid they would only be used for, uh, certain kinds of people. Just like the guardians* are."

A slight tension built in the room. Adrian raised his eyebrows at Lissa.

"What are you talking about?" asked Tatiana with narrowed eyes.

"Everyone knows that there's a certain, um, method to how guardians are distributed. Only the elite get them. Royals. Rich people. People in power."

A chill fell over the room. Tatiana's mouth settled into a straight line. She didn't speak for several moments, and everyone was holding their breath. Adrian hid a smirk. "You don't think our royals deserve special protection?" she asked finally. "You don't think _you_ do –the last of the Dragomirs?"

"I think keeping our leaders safe is important, yeah. But I also think we need to stop sometimes and look at what we're doing. It could be time to reconsider the way we've always done things."

Tatiana sipped her tea. "I understand," she said, "that you're also in favour of Moroi fighting with the guardians and attacking Strigori?"

"I think if there are Moroi who want to, they shouldn't be denied the chance."

"Moroi lives a precious," said the queen. "They shouldn't be risked."

"Dhampir lives are precious to," Lissa countered. "If they fight with Moroi, it could save everybody. And again, if Moroi are willing, why deny them? They deserve to know how to defend themselves. And people like Tasha Ozera have developed ways of fighting with magic."

The mention of Christian's aunt brought a frown to the queen's face. "Tasha Ozera…she's a troublemaker. She's starting to gather a lot of other troublemakers."

"She's trying to introduce new ideas," Lissa said gaining more confidence. "Throughout history, people with new ideas –who think differently and try to change things –have always been called troublemakers. But seriously? Do you want the truth?" _This cannot end well,_ Adrian thought.

A wry look crossed Tatiana's face, almost a smile. "Always."

"We need change. I mean, our traditions are important. We shouldn't give up on those. But sometimes, I think we're misguided."

"Misguided?"

"As time's gone on, we've gone along with other changes. We've evolved. Computers. Electricity. Technology in general. We all agree those make our lives better. Why can't we be the same in the way we act? Why are we still clinging to the past when there are better ways to do things?"

Adrian thought it was a very risky move for Lissa to say these things to her. No one spoke to her like that. This could either be good for Lissa or it might just come back at her. Lissa probably couldn't tell but Adrian clearly saw that the queen was still trying to keep her emotions in check. He knew that she knew that getting on Lissa's bad side wasn't a good idea, no matter how tempting it might be.

"You're very interesting to talk to," she finally said. "But I have things I must do now." She stood up, and everyone hastily followed suit, even Adrian. "I won't be joining you for dinner, but you and your companions with have everything you need. I'll see you tomorrow at the trial. No matter how radical and naively idealistic your ideas are, I'm glad you'll be there to complete his sentencing. His imprisonment, at least, is something we can all agree on."

Tatiana swept out, two guardians immediately following. Priscilla followed too, leaving Lissa and Adrian alone.

"Well done, cousin. Aren't many people who can throw the old lady off-balance like that," he said not bothering to hide his smirk.

"She didn't seem very off-balance."

"Oh, she was. Believe me. Most of the people she deals with every day wouldn't talk to her like that, let alone someone your age." He stood up and extended a hand to Lissa. "Come on. I'll show you around this place. Take your mind off things."

"I've been here before," she said. "When I was younger."

"Yeah, well, the things we get to see when we're young are different than the things we get to see when we're older. Did you know there is a twenty-four-hour bar in here? We'll get you a drink."

"I don't want a drink."

"You will before this trip's over."

* * *

**Author's Note: **

*****the moment I typed that I burst out laughing. I kept thinking about that owl movie instead of dhampirs and then I thought of owls protecting vampires and then I was on the floor. :D shut up brain.

My editing for this chapter has been a bit lazy. So if there are any mistakes, my bad. I will probably read over it again tomorrow.

A bit off topic but I can't get over how awesome Glee was today :D And the promo for next week, omg. It made me laugh and then it made me cry :'(

Now back on topic I will try to update this again during the holidays. Starting to remember how much I enjoy writing this fic :)


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